The Shinigami of Zero: Futatsuki no Shinigami
by Fenikkusumaru
Summary: 2 months have passed since the Battle of Tarbes. Tristain and Albion are now at war with Kurogasa, the Shinigami and Louise, the Void mage caught in the middle, with an Arrancar on the loose. Can they overcome the trials in this war?
1. Her Majesty, the Queen's Zero

HELLO FANFIC READERS! I'M BAAAAAAAAACK! Didn't expect to see me back so soon huh? Well, I'm ready to give you the second season of Shinigami of Zero. It's called: The Shinigami of Zero: Futatsuki no Shinigami. Or Shinigami of the Two Moons in translation. This sequel is gonna be one heck of a sequel. And you'll see why throughout the whole story. So without further ado, here it is! The second season of Shinigami of Zero!

Disclaimer: I do not own Bleach & Familiar of Zero.

* * *

Chapter 1: Her Majesty, the Queen's Zero

_Deep in the darkest dungeons of the Tristain Royal Palace, a mysterious figure walked down the stairs of the underground dungeons. The figure came upon a door where it was lock, and the figure easily unlocked it with magic. The figure opened the door where there were prison cells. The figure went to one of them. "Hm? It's feeding time again?" A man asked from inside the cell. This man's voice belonged to Cromwell. Leader of Reconquista. "Stupid humans. I can't believe it. Even though I'm in prison, I get to be treated like a king."_

_"It's unfortunate, but you won't be able to enjoy your last meal." The figure said. The voice was feminine, so it was a woman. Cromwell recognized the voice and went up to the door with a rectangle peep hole so his eyes can see from the outside with bars adorning it even though it wasn't for decoration._

_"It's you!" Cromwell recognized._

_"Cromwell, you have failed your task in taking over Tristain." The woman began. "I thought I could've left this task up to you, but it seems I was wrong." Cromwell seemed to panic a bit. "And during the ruckus outside, I managed to retrieve this." The woman said holding up her hand. It was the Ring of Andvari!"_

_"Please! Please give me another chance!" Cromwell said in desperation. "Those wretched fools used magic of an unknown source! It happened so fast, I couldn't stop it! What was I supposed to do? Wait, don't tell me that was…!"_

_"Void magic." The woman answered._

_"R–Right! You could've never predicted that kind of thing would happen!" Cromwell continued. "I can't be blamed for that!"_

_"Don't worry about it. Because you won't have to carry the responsibility anymore." The woman chuckled evilly._

_"W–Wait! Wait! Stop it!" Cromwell panicked as he backed off from the door and fell on his butt next to the bed. The woman held up her hand and the Ring of Andvari glowed a purple light with the woman chuckling evilly. "NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!_!_!_!

* * *

"C'mon Louise. Hurry up. We're already late for the Coronation Ceremony and the wedding is following soon after. I'm going to be giving away Henrietta to Wales for that. We, the Best Man and Maid of Honor, can't be late."

"Will you just wait Kurogasa? I'm almost done."

"You said that, two hours ago! This shouldn't take you this long!"

"This is a wedding and I want to look my best!"

"Ughhh… Just hurry up ok?"

This was freaking ridiculous. I've been waiting for a few hours and Louise is _still_ not ready to go to Wales and Henrietta's wedding. Well, while we're waiting, I'll tell who I am. For those who don't know, I'm Kurogasa Kururugi. 17 years old, have brown hair that's messy yet looks straight, blue eyes, and of course I'm wearing a Shihakushō and carrying a talking katana named Derflinger who's also my Zanpakutō. Not too long ago, I was just your average anime fanatic of Bleach dressed up as a Shinigami and was heading to an anime convention, until my world turned completely upside down.

I was summoned as a Familiar by a girl named Louise Francoise Le Blanc De La Vallière, who happens to be a Void mage without knowing about it at first, and I was Gandalfr, a legendary Familiar who had the ability who mastered any kind of weapon. And I also gained Shinigami powers when I came to Louise's world. My talking sword is Derflinger who also happens to be my Zanpakutō. During my time here, I've had many adventures and met a lot of people.

Kirche, a Fire mage who tries to seduce me at every turn, Tabitha, who is Kirche's best friend, and good at Wind Magic, Guiche, whose specialty of magic is Earth, not to mention that he's such a playboy by cheating on her girlfriend, Montmorency, who was a Water mage, every time he sees a pretty girl, Siesta, who was a maid of Japanese descent, and first friend I made when I arrived, Professor Colbert, a teacher, and Headmaster Osmond, the principal, are all employed at the Tristain Academy of Magic. Scarron, Jessica, and Maria, along with the fairy waitresses run the Dancing Fairy Inn in town, and then there was Princess Henrietta and Prince Wales of Albion who are about to be married.

Like I said, I met all of these people and had many adventures, including finding a Zero Fighter here in Louise's world, encountering Hollows, an Arrancar, and being involved in a war between the country of Tristain and Albion. It's been two months since the Battle of Tarbes and so far, Albion, hasn't made a move or attack since then. But something tells me that that's only the calm before the storm.

But right now, let's not talk about that. Let's talk about the wedding. After things settled down a bit here in Tristain after the battle of Tarbes, Henrietta and Wales came to us personally and asked us to be their Best Man and Maid of Honor, along with me giving away Henrietta to Wales. Louise and I were both surprised, but despite that, we happily accepted to do so. Right now, I'm wearing my full white kamishimo. The one with the cape–like kataginu I wore at the award ceremony. And I gotta say, Quinn outdone herself yet again. Right now I was waiting outside her room tapping my foot in impatience because Louise still wasn't ready.

"Damn it, what's taking her so long?" I growled.

"Relax Partner." a voice said. I looked down at my obi sash to see my talking Zanpakutō, Derflinger wriggle up from his sheath. "The wedding's only gonna be in another hour or two, so we got time. You could always use that Shunpo to get to the Palace fast."

"Well, yeah…" I agreed hesitantly. "But still, I just don't wanna be late."

"I'm ready." Louise said as he opened the door to reveal that the dress she wore at the Ball of Frigg and that her hair was tied up in the same fashion as well during the Ball of Frigg.

"About time…" I sighed in relief. "You were taking too long in there."

"Hey! I told you that I want to look my best for Princess Henrietta!" Louise snapped. "It's a wedding after all."

"Let's just hurry so that we can be early." I said while we left.

"You're so impatient." Louise told me.

"So I've been told." I muttered to myself.

"What was that?" Louise growled.

"Nothing." I said quickly.

* * *

_Meanwhile, it was a beautiful day in Tristain. And today was really special. The reason being is because the Prince of Albion and the Princess of Tristain are to be joined in Holy Matrimony. The coronation as King and Queen had already taken place. The streets were filled with many townspeople excited for this day as they were waiting with anticipation for their new King and Queen to be married. But unknown to the people, way up high in the air, so people wouldn't notice something in the sky, a Garganta opened up. Stepping out of the Garganta was a cloaked figure. It was the cloaked Arrancar that was at the Battle of Tarbes. He looked down at the town observing. The cloaked figure noticed Kurogasa carrying the Void mage using shunpo from roof to roof, and he smirked._

_"Enjoy your peace for a little while longer." He said. "Before I crush you in an instant."_

* * *

After what seemed like forever, even though it's been a couple of minutes using shunpo, Louise and I managed to arrive at entrance to the Palace. I let Louise down from my arms.

"Whew. Just in time." I said relieved.

"I think I'm gonna be sick." Louise groaned holding on to her stomach. "If I puke on my dress, I'm blaming it all on you."

"Well maybe you shouldn't take two hours just to get ready!" I told her.

"Well a noble must look their best for a special occasion." Louise said with some pride.

"Yeah, but we were on a time limit, and you took up _most_ of that time!"

Louise puffed her cheeks. "Look, we made it on time didn't we? So I don't want to hear it!"

"Fine, let's just get inside now." I said when we walked to the entrance. The soldiers guarding the entrance knew who we were so they let us in. When we went inside, one of the soldiers came up to us. She was a woman in her early 20's with armor, a sword with a white cape, and her hair was light tan and in some sense reminded me of Soi Fon's hairstyle. In fact, she kinda looks like Soi Fon. Just without the two long braids bound in white cloth with a large golden ring on each end.

"I am Agnès Chevalier de Milan. Captain of the Firearm Squadron. Are you two the Best Man and Maid of Honor?" The woman asked.

"We are." Louise and I answered.

"Follow me." She said as she turned around and we started following her down the hallway.

"Firearm Squadron? I never heard of a Squadron here before." I whispered to Louise.

"After the Battle of Tarbes, Her Majesty wanted to make a squadron of soldiers with exceptional skills." Louise explained. "The Firearm Squadron may not be able to use magic, but that doesn't stop them."

"Huh…" Well I guess that made sense. Kind of like the 2nd Division of the Gotei 13 with Soi Fon as its Captain and Chief of the Onmitsukidō, the Black Ops of the Gotei 13. Only the Firearm Squadron isn't stealthy and secretive like the Onmitsukidō. We continued to follow Agnès down the hall until we came upon a doorway. Agnès knocked on the door.

"Enter." A voice said from behind the door. Agnès opened the door.

"Kurogasa Kururugi and Louise Francoise Le Blanc de La Vallière have arrived Your Majesty." Agnès announced.

"Oh. I see. Please let them in." The male voice said. Agnès nodded and stood to the side letting me and Louise inside the room. In there we saw Prince Wales of Albion that just finished getting fitted in his wedding garment which was the same as his usual attire when I first met him, only the coat was white. "Ah, Kurogasa, Louise, it's good to see you."

"Good to see you too." I said as I Louise and I came up to him and I shook his hand. "Sorry if we were a bit late. Louise was taking a long time getting ready." I apologized making Louise glare at me.

"Do not worry about it." Wales assured me.

"Thank you Prince Wales." I said and bowed towards him. "Or should I say _King_ Wales?" I smirked straightening my back again.

"I'm still not used to being called that." Wales chuckled.

"It's a big day for both of you, so there's no need to be nervous." Louise said.

"She right. Oh, by the way, I got you a wedding present." I said taking something out from my Shihakushō and gave him a small box. "It's not much, but I'm sure you'll like it."

"What is it?" Wales asked as he opened it. It was revealed to be a medal pin with a white ribbon and a gold medal dangling. On the ribbon was Gotei 13 rhombus with my family name in Japanese and on the gold medal was the same Gotei 13 rhombus, but in the middle was flower insignia of the 5th Division. "A medal of some sort?"

"Yes. It's a little something I made myself with a little help from the Square class mages over at the Academy to make the medal turn gold." I answered. "In the Gotei 13, each division had a flower that signifies what that division stood for." I explained. I told Wales and Henrietta about Gotei 13 whenever Louise and I get the chance to talk to them. "The flower you see on the medal is a flower called the Lily of the Valley. It's the insignia for the 5th Division of the Gotei 13, and it signifies Sacrifice, because you would willingly do anything for your country, Danger, because you know the risks being taken, and Pure Love, because of the love for your country. I think it fits you and Princess or rather Queen Henrietta well."

"Thank you Kurogasa, I shall treasure it." Wales said as he pinned it onto his coat.

"Don't mention it." I said. "Now where's your soon–to–be–wife? I gotta give her, her wedding present too."

"She's in the next room." Wales said.

"I'm going with you." Louise said.

"Uh, I think I'll be fine without you chaperoning me." I said.

"I don't trust you alone with the princess." Louise argued.

"And I'm not gonna do anything funny." I countered. "Wales and Henrietta are gonna be married and I don't ruin relationships between two people anyways. That's not my thing."

"I'm still going to come along, just in case." Louise insisted.

"I said… I'll… be… fine…" I growled flaring up my reiatsu a bit.

"Ok, ok, no need to get mad." Louise squeaked a bit. Hehehe… works every time.

"Thank you." I said relaxing and my reiatsu died down.

"And besides, we need to get going anyways Louise." Wales said.

"What do you mean?" Louise asked.

"Well, the wedding is going to be held at the Royal Gardens which is outside and at the back of the castle. I can't see my soon–to–be–wife yet until I see her coming down the aisle. So let's go, Louise." He said as nudged Louise gently out the door.

"Wait, hold on I–" Louise began to protest, but Wales kept on nudging her gently out of the room.

"Let's go, time is of the essence." Wales continued.

"See ya later." I chirped waving the two of them goodbye smiling as Wales got Louise out of the room. "Now, to give Henrietta her wedding present."

Derf wriggled out of his sheath. "Wales said that she was in the next room."

"Then that's where we're going." I waited a couple of minutes to give Louise and Wales time to be nowhere in sight in the hallway. I opened the door looked around and she was nowhere to be seen. Good. I walked out of the hallway to the next door and knocked.

"Who is it?" A woman's voice asked. I recognized the voice belonging to Henrietta.

"It's me Henrietta. It's Kurogasa." I answered.

"Oh, Kurogasa, please come in." Henrietta said. I opened the door and again, when I first met her, my heart literally skipped two beats. She was in her wedding dress that was strapless and had a medium–long train, wearing a crown of white roses with a long thin veil attached to it, and wore white gloves that went up to her elbows.

"Wow… You look… beautiful." I managed to get out while I walked up to her.

She blushed slightly. "Um, thank you. I hope Wales likes it."

"I'm sure he will." I said. "He's marrying you after all."

"That is true." The Princess or rather Queen told me.

"And I'm sure that if your father was here, he would definitely be proud seeing you like this."

"Yes, he would be." Henrietta smiled sadly. "So what brings you here?" She asked.

"Well, I'm here to give you your wedding present." I answered. "I already gave Wales _his_ wedding present. It's not much, but I'm sure you'll like it." I took something out of my Shihakushō and pulled out a small box and gave it to her.

"What is it?" Henrietta asked as she took the box and opened it. Inside, it revealed a gold chain necklace with a gold medal dangling on it. On the medal, was the Gotei 13 rhombus, and inside _it_ was also the flower of the 5th division. "A necklace?"

"Yes. It's a little something I made myself with a little help from the Square class mages over at the Academy to make the medal turn gold." I answered. "I told Wales this. In the Gotei 13, each division had a flower that signifies what that division stood for. I gave Wales a ribbon medal that had this flower you see on this necklace called the Lily of the Valley. It's the insignia for the 5th Division of the Gotei 13, and it signifies Sacrifice, because you would willingly do anything for your country, Danger, because you know the risks being taken, and Pure Love, because of the love for your country. I think it fits both you and Prince or rather King Wales well."

Henrietta clutched the necklace and smiled looking at it and placed it on her heart. "Thank you Kurogasa, I will cherish this always."

"Wow, déjà vu." I laughed slightly. "Wales said something like that."

"He did?" The Princess giggled.

"Yes, he did. No joke." I laughed. "But anyways, may I?" I asked gesturing to want to put the necklace around her neck.

"Of course." She said as she gives me the necklace and turned around so her back was facing me. I then placed the necklace around her neck. She then turned around to look at me. "How does it look?"

"It looks wonderful." Just then, chiming bells started to ring from outside the castle.

"Oh, the bells." Henrietta realized.

"I guess that means it's about to start." I said. "Well then, Queen Henrietta, shall we?" I asked holding out my hand to her smiling.

"Why yes." Henrietta smiled back. She got her bouquet of flowers first before taking my hand. I then lead her to where Wales, her soon–to–be–husband, was waiting.

* * *

_Later on, everyone noble and official in the castle including the students and staff of the Tristain Academy of Magic who were all dressed for the occasion were in attendance and in their seats waiting for the Queen to come. Wales was standing at right side, his left of the stage that was set up and Louise was on its left, her right side waiting with a bouquet of flowers in hand with the Minister in the middle. And there were knights on the left and right side of the middle aisle._

_"Where are they?" Kirche whined. "Darling's taking too long!"_

_"Patience." Tabitha said while Guiche flipped his hair._

_"She's right Kirche; you must learn to be patient." Guiche said. "I cannot wait to see Her Majesty; she will look absolutely stunning."_

_"What was that Guiche?" Montmorency said in a dark tone._

_"Nothing." Guiche nervously laughed while sweating. Of course, Kirche wasn't the only one impatient. Louise was too. They couldn't see it in the dress because it touched the ground, but Louise was tapping her foot impatiently._

'Ooooooooh, where is that Kurogasa?'_ Louise growled in her thoughts. At last, the minstrels started played the familiar 'Here Comes the Bride' tune and everyone looked to the back and the knights on the sides of the middle aisle ceremoniously placed their swords in front of them. There they saw Kurogasa and Henrietta with the latter's arm around the former's walking down the aisle while Guiche looked like he was having a heart attack and Wales was obviously star struck at how beautiful Henrietta looked. As Kurogasa and Henrietta walked down the aisle passing by the soldiers on the sides of the middle aisle, the knights ceremoniously raised their swords in the air. Finally, they arrived at the set–up stage and the minstrel stopped playing and the knights lowered their swords down._

_The Minister turned to Kurogasa. "Do you give up this woman to be married?"_

'As if it was my decision.' _Kurogasa thought with a smile. All he said was, "I do." Kurogasa then hugged Henrietta and the latter went up to the middle of the stage and Wales met her there. The two turned to each other smiling._

_"Dearly beloved, we've gathered here today to join two people in the bond of holy matrimony. Marriage is truly sacred, one that celebrates the joining of two souls into one. It is a bond not to be entered into selfishly and prideful, but meekly and humbly by both parties; so they form a near perfect union of two hearts." He then looked at the two people about to be married. "Bridegroom, Wales Tudor, King of Tristain, in the name of the church of Brimir, do you swear to respect, love, and to have her as your lawfully wedded wife?"_

_"I do." Wales responded. The Minister then turned to Henrietta._

_"And Bride, Henrietta de Tristain, Queen of Tristain. In the name of the church of Brimir, do you swear to respect, love, and to have him as your lawfully wedded husband?"_

_"I do." Henrietta answered._

_"Do you two have the rings?" He asked. Wales and Henrietta nodded as they looked to Kurogasa and Louise with the latter giving them the rings. Wales had Henrietta's and Henrietta had Wales's. "You may know say your vows." Wales and Henrietta turned to each other again._

_"I, Wales Tudor take you Henrietta de Tristain to be my wife. To have and to hold from this day forward, for better or for worse, for richer, for poorer, in sickness and in health, to love and to cherish; from this day forward until death do us part. With this ring, I wed thee." Wales said and then placed Henrietta's ring on her finger. Now it was Henrietta's turn._

_"I, Henrietta de Tristain, take you Wales Tudor to be my husband. To have and to hold from this day forward, for better or for worse, for richer, for poorer, in sickness and in health, to love and to cherish; from this day forward until death do us part. With this ring, I wed thee." Henrietta said and then placed Wales's ring on his finger._

_"Let these rings be given and received as a token of your affection, sincerity, and fidelity to one another." The priest declared. "In as much as our King and Queen have consented together in wedlock and have witnessed the same before this company, and pledged their vows to each other, by the authority vested in me by the Kingdom of Tristain, I now pronounce you husband and wife. You may now kiss the bride!" The priest said before the two embraced each other and shared a passionate kiss as the minstrels played the wedding song and the crowd stood up and applauded and cheered for the newlyweds._

_"Long live the King! Long live the Queen! Long live the King! Long live the Queen!" The crowd chanted._

_However, their applause, cheering, and chanting was cut short when an explosion occurred near the gardens, causing the trees to shake violently and the people starting panicking, others ducking for cover. Well, particularly Guiche hiding under his chair despite it being too small for him to hide under._

_"W–What was that_?_!" Louise asked in a frightened tone while Kurogasa unsheathed and gripped Derf._

_"Trouble." Kurogasa muttered and turned to the newlyweds. "You two get somewhere safe."_

_Wales nodded and looked towards the audience. "I need everyone to follow me!" Everyone followed Wales and Henrietta to safety while I drew Derf._

_"Louise, get out of here too." Kurogasa said._

_"But why?" She got her answer when a few red beams came at the gardens. These weren't just any red beams. These were Ceros._

_"BANKAI!" Kurogasa yelled as he went into Bankai mode._

"Derflinger Magicae Egredietur!"

_Kurogasa immediately then blocked all the Ceros and absorbed the blasts making armor grow on him. He then reverted back into Shikai form after he absorbed the Ceros. "There's your answer! Now get out of here!" Louise nodded and then followed the crowd. Kurogasa looked around to where the blasts came from. Setting his site on looking up in a direction, Kurogasa's eyes narrowed. "I knew it…" Kurogasa muttered. There were four Menos Grandes; as well as the mysterious Arrancar from before._

* * *

Well this is even _more_ ridiculous than waiting for Louise for a few hours to get ready for the wedding. I got four Menos Grande and that mysterious Arrancar I saw at the Battle of Tarbes there too and they just ruined a wedding. At least, they waited until _after_ Wales and Henrietta kissed, I'll give them that, because technically, it concludes the wedding ceremony, but still! They ruined a wedding! I jumped up in the air making an invisible platform of reiatsu so I can stand on air and then shunpo over to where the four Menos Grande and mysterious Arrancar.

"So we meet again, Shinigami." The mysterious Arrancar said.

"What are you doing here!_?_" I demanded.

"I'm here to crush you like the little flea you are."

"Just try it!" I yelled at him.

"Be careful what you wish for, because you just might get it! Prepare yourself Shinigami!" The Arrancar used Sonido in order to get behind me. I turned just in time to block his blade. I jumped away so that I can distance myself from him.

I readied Derf. _'That was close.'_ I thought when the Arrancar created a red orb in his hand. "Oh no."

"Cero." The Arrancar fired a massive Cero my way; thankfully I was still in my Bankai, so I absorbed the Cero while 90% of Siegfried's armor covered my body. "I must admit, being able to absorb a Cero and being able to stabilize it, is impressive. Too bad that's the _only_ thing impressive about you."

"Watch it buddy! Majutsu Taihō Hōka!" I yelled while I swung Derf and sent multiple energy spheres at the Arrancar.

"Fool." The Arrancar held up his hand and absorbed my attack! How was he able to do that? "Take this!" He yelled swinging his sword and sent a number of X–shaped projectiles of energy at me. Wait, X–shaped? That looked familiar, but I can't seem to put on my finger on it.

I dodged the X–shaped projectiles and crossed blades with the Arrancar. "I got a question for you."

"I may have an answer."

"How are you able to use those X–shaped attacks? They looked very familiar."

"Hmph. I'll let you figure that out for yourself." The Arrancar said as he backed off and continued to throw X–shaped projectiles of energy at me with the swing of his swords.

"If you wanna be like that, fine!" I absorbed the X–shaped projectiles. "Time for my counterattack! Majutsu Shōgekiha Hōka!" I yelled sending a barrage of enormous shockwaves of energy at the cloaked Arrancar.

"Don't you learn?" The Arrancar scoffed and absorbed my attacks again, I quickly used shunpo to get behind him and slash at him, but he blocked my sword strike. "Your strategy was to have me absorb my attacks so that you could get behind me and attack. An amateur strategy." The Arrancar kicked me, sending me flying down to the ground.

"Partner! Are you alright?" Derf asked while I got up.

"I'm alright." I got out.

"Not for long." The Arrancar said and created a very large red orb in his hand. "Have a taste of your own power combined with a Cero." The Arrancar fired an extremely powerful Cero at me with surprising speed. Oh damn! He's firing a Gran Rey Cero!

"Partner!"

"I got it!" I used shunpo to get out of the way as it vaporized the spot I was in, leaving nothing but a crater of soil in the ground. "If I moved a second later that would've been me."

"Shocking isn't it?" I looked to see the Arrancar behind me. "None of your attacks can do anything but make me stronger. You're out of your league."

"Shut up!" I slashed at the Arrancar who grabbed my blade and pushed away and…

*SLASH!*

I looked to see a large gash going down my body while I fell to the floor in my blood. "Y–You bastard." I got out as I coughed up some blood.

He then created a small red orb. "Cero." The Cero hit me and sent me skidding across the ground in intense pain and my Bankai faded out. "That was a downgraded Cero, it won't kill you."

"D–Damn you…" I growled bitterly.

"Consider yourself lucky that I let you live, however." He turned around. "The next time we meet, your life will end."

'_D–Damn.'_ I thought.

"And when it ends, your spiritual powers will be nourishment for my blade, and I shall get even stronger."

Wait. Nourishment for his blade to get stronger? Hold on… no… that can't be _him. _That's not possible. My thoughts were cut short when he snapped his fingers as a Garganta appeared.

"Running away already?" I got out.

"Do you really think I would be quick to fly off the handle because of a silly mere taunt?" He laughed. "Rest assured that when we cross swords again, you will be the one begging for mercy. That is if you survive destroying these Menos Grande." He said before going through the Garganta and closed. Great, I'm now in a bind, because of that Arrancar, I'm on the ground, bleeding all over the place, and I have to deal with four Menos Grandes.

_'Damn, what am I going to do? I could fight them, but it would probably kill me in the process.'_ I thought.

"FIREBALL!"

I turned my head around to see a few fireballs heading towards one of the Menos Grande's mask and made a direct hit. "What the–!"

"Darling!"

I looked to see Kirche, Tabitha, Guiche, Montmorency, and Louise run to me. "What are you guys doing here?"

"What's it look like we're doing_?_!" Louise asked.

"Help you." Tabitha said.

"Thanks. Think you can take on those Menos Grande?" I asked.

"Menos what?" Guiche asked confused. I pointed at them and Guiche looked in that direction. Guiche's face pale quite dramatically. "AHHHHHHH!"

"Yep, those are Menos Grandes." I said.

"Have you gone mad_?_! Do you expect me to go against those things_?_!" Guiche yelled comically.

"You came to help right?" I asked.

"Well, that's…" Guiche trailed off.

"Yeah, that's what I thought." I said. "Just aim for the Menos Grande's mask–like face or any part of their body with enough damage and it'll kill them."

"But I thought only your Zanpakutō can damage Hollows." Louise pointed out.

"Yeah, but most wounds that would be fatal for a human will take 'em out too."

"Well then…" Kirche held up her wand. "What are we waiting for?" One of the Menos Grandes marched towards us while Kirche held of her wand. "Fireball!" Kirche fired a fireball which stunned it enough for Tabitha to finish a chant and send icicles at its mask, shattering it into pieces.

"That's one." I muttered while Guiche's Valkyries charged at the second Menos who slapped them out of the way with its large hand.

"D–D–Do you know who you're facing?" Guiche asked in fear while the Menos prepared to fire a Cero.

"Guiche! Get out of there! If that hits you there'll be nothing left of you!" I yelled while Guiche followed my advice. He hightailed it out of there, away from the Menos as it fired the Cero at the ground, making a huge explosion.

"That was close." Guiche breathed a sigh of relief.

"Not done." Tabitha said.

"She's right. We have three Menos left." I said while I stood up.

"Darling, you're hurt! You can't fight like that!" Kirche protested.

"Just try to stay down while I treat you." Montmorency said.

"Don't worry… I'm… just going to use Kidō to help." I said while I pointed at the second Menos Grande. _"Hado # 33: Sōkatsui!"_ I fired a pale blue fireball at the second Menos, stunning it for a few minutes.

"Now!" Kirche yelled and waved her wand. "Fireball!" Kirche sent a fireball.

"Tornado." Tabitha said sending a tornado which merged with the fireball creating a blazing tornado that defeated the second and third Menos while the final won roared in anger.

"Not good." Guiche said. "I think we made the last one mad."

"You think so? I think it wants to chat." I said in a sarcastic tone. "I think I may be able to use my Shikai without it trying to kill me."

"No Kurogasa! You're still wounded!" Louise denied.

"I'll be fine Louise."

"B–But!"

"Look, either I do this or we all die here! Your choice!" I yelled.

"O–Ok." Louise backed up from me. I then turned to Kirche, Tabitha. "I need both of your magic for this to work." They nodded.

"Anything for you Darling."

"_Release the magic within! Derflinger!"_

Derf transformed into his Soul Calibur blade from the first series. "Ready! Send your fireball and tornado at me!"

"Alright, Darling. Fireball!"

"Tornado." Kirche and Tabitha sent a blazing tornado and Derflinger absorbed every bit of that fire tornado.

"I'm ready Partner!" Derf yelled.

"Alright! Here we go!" I jumped up and raised Derf in the air. "Majutsu Shōgekiha!" I yelled sending a powerful shock wave that split the Menos in two and jumped back down before it disappeared. "There… we… did it…" I said before I wobble my way down falling.

"Kurogasa!" Louise yelled while everyone ran to me when I blacked out, I really need to train.

* * *

_Meanwhile, high above in the clouds where the people down below cannot see, the cloaked Arrancar looked down observing from above. He smirked at the results. "Hmph. So you managed to survive. And it's only because of your friends." The cloaked Arrancar said to himself. "But no matter, you are still nothing but an insect to me. And I'll prove that to you we can cross swords again. And we will. Very soon."_

* * *

Oh man, I'm definitely gonna be feeling that one in the morning. I slowly opened up my eyes and saw I was in a room on a bed. I noticed it to be Louise's room. Looking around, I saw Louise and Kirche asleep next to my bedside. Tabitha, Guiche, Montmorency, heck, even Henrietta and Wales were there. They were in different places of Louise's room sitting on chairs, sleeping. How long have I been out? I moved slightly and cringed. "Yep, still alive."

"Fwuaaaaa…"

A sleepy yawn alerted me to the fact that Louise was starting to wake up. She wiped her eyes and sat up. Looking around, she just stared at me for a moment. It was slow, but her eyes began widening as it dawned on her that I was awake. "Kurogasa!" Louise cried out. Immediately everyone else woke up and they saw me awake as well and they came up to my bed side.

"Are you alright Kurogasa?" Wales asked me.

"Despite me having wounds and still being in pain, yeah, I'm fine." I managed to get out while I tried to sit up, but end up cringing in pain. Guiche and Wales helped me sit upright in bed.

"What a relief." Henrietta said with a smile. "Thank you for saving us."

"It's no problem." I said. "How long have I been out?"

"You've been out for a few days." Guiche explained.

"Not surprising." I groaned.

"And I healed up all your wounds during that time. There's no scar or anything now, but you're still gonna be aching with pain." Montmorency said.

"Thanks." I said.

"Who was that cloaked man though? That Arran– whatever he is." Louise said.

"Arrancar." I answered. "And as for your question, I don't know. I couldn't see his face." Well, I kinda have an idea of who it might be, but then again I can't be too sure.

"What does he want?" Wales wondered.

"That's the thing, I have no idea." I said. "He always disappears when we battle."

"Well, at least he's gone." Kirche said.

"For now… but something tells me that's not gonna be last we see of him." I said. It was silent for a while. None of us talked for a while, until Henrietta spoke.

"Kurogasa. There's something I want to talk to you about." Henrietta said.

"Uh… sure, what is it?" I asked.

"It's best that this conversation was private." The Queen answered. Wales nodded and looked to the others who nodded in response and everyone but Henrietta left the room.

"What do you want to talk about?" I asked.

"I wanted to talk to you about this after the wedding, but… I wasn't able to because of your battle that day and you were unresponsive for the past few days. It's better late than never." The Queen said as she walked to my bedside. "According to the Intelligence Department and the words from Headmaster Osmond, in this war, the ones who defeated the Albion Army at the Battle of Tarbes were you and Louise. And from there, I know that Louise is a Void mage, and you're the Gandalfr right?"

"Well, yeah…" I answered. "Where are you going with this?"

"That power… Is it possible for you to assist me by lending me that power?" Henrietta asked. "The Kingdom of Tristain is now engulfed in fighting and war. The Army doesn't want to miss such a good chance. We will initiate an attack on Albion. The elders under Masari seemed to have agreed with the Army on this too. But…"

"You want prevent any more bloodshed and war from happening right?" I asked.

"Yes…" Henrietta said sadly as he took my left hand to look at the runes. "This is the mark of Gandalfr right?"

"Yes."

"I want you to please, use this power, together with Louise to assist me."

"Well, of course, Louise said she'd do anything for your sake." I said.

"I'm directly asking this favor of you." She said suddenly holding both my hands. "I don't have many close friends, so please become my friend."

"You… don't have any close friends?" I asked confused.

"Her Majesty… or whatever the title… it robs you of your freedom." Henrietta said sadly. Well, I knew _that_ much. With royalty, you're pretty much limited. You can't do squat… kinda. "Only a small portion of people truly understand my feelings and are able to help me."

"Well, you have Wales and Louise right?"

"Yes, but other than them, I don't have that many friends that understand me. So please do me this favor."

I chuckled making a confused look on her face. But then I smiled. "Are you kidding me? We've been friends since the day we met. Any friend of Louise is a friend of mine."

"Then you'll…" She began.

"Like I said, before at the Battle of Tarbes, I shall lend you my sword and add to your strength."

"Thank you." She said relieved. "I'm glad to hear you say that. But in the meantime… I want you and Louise to remain here at the Tristain Academy of Magic. I wish to keep the relationship with you two a secret, because the enemies will be present at the castle as well."

"Wait… as in spies?" I asked. Oh boy, as if the war in general was bad enough, but we got possible spies among us.

"Yes. During the wedding, Cromwell, the leader of Reconquista, was assassinated inside the royal dungeon."

"What_?_!" I gaped. "How_?_!"

"I don't know. The lock of the cell was made from high level magic, and it had to be someone from the palace that knew how to open that lock. And Cromwell has met his end."

"That's horrible." I muttered. Geez… I hate to admit it, but even _Cromwell_ didn't deserve that.

"And also… the Ring of Andvari was stolen too."

"WHAT_?_!" I gaped. "But I thought that was given back to the Water Spirit already!"

"Well, during this time of war, we can't risk anything. So we thought of keeping the ring you and Louise gave us until this war is over."

"Oh boy, looks like we're gonna have to find the ring all over again." I sighed. But then again, the Water Spirit is immortal, so it doesn't matter how long it takes for me to find and return the ring.

"Kurogasa." Henrietta said.

"Yes?"

"As a token of my appreciation, if there's anything you need, whatever it is, please let me know. As long as it's within my means of course."

"Anything?" I asked.

"Yes. Anything."

"Uh… yeah, sure."

* * *

Later on at night, Henrietta and Wales left the Magic Academy and everyone else was in their rooms. Before Henrietta left, she told us that any message from her or Wales will directly from the Firearm Squadron and that our code name will be "Zero". Henrietta also gave Louise a small book to which I have no clue what it was. And now, I was about to ask her.

"So what's that book?" I asked as Louise opened it.

"I think this is the Founder's Prayer Book." Louise answered. "Her Majesty gave it to me. She said that it would be better if I held on to it."

"I see."

"I heard that this book has been store in the Tristain Kingdom for many generations." Louise continued as I looked at the pages. "And according to Headmaster Osmond, the scriptures for Void magic should be written here."

"But it's blank." I noticed.

Derf wriggled out of my sheath from the wall. "It's blank for now." My talking sword said. "Its true purpose will be revealed in time."

* * *

_The next day…_

_It was another beautiful day in Tristain. The sun was shining; the birds are singing, the breeze was gentle, it was a perfect day. But all was not well. Agnès, Captain of the Firearm Squadron, and Wales, King of Tristain, urged their horse to run faster for some reason. A few minutes later, they arrived at the Tristain Academy of Magic. Once they arrived at the entrance, they quickly got off of their horses and ran towards one of the towers. They ran like their lives depended on it. They went up the coiling flight of stairs until she arrived at Louise's door. Agnès started banging on it._

_"Miss Vallière! Kurogasa! Open up!" Wales yelled urgently._

_"We have a situation!" Agnès yelled banging on the door. A few seconds later, the door opened up to see Louise in her night gown and Kurogasa managing to sit up right from the bed._

_"Agnès? His Majesty?" Louise wondered. "What are you doing here?"_

_"Yeah, what's wrong?" I asked._

_"Henrietta has been kidnapped!" Wales yelled._

_"WHHHHHHAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAT_?_!_?_!_?_!"_

* * *

And there you have it folks! That's the first chapter of The Shinigami of Zero: Futatsuki no Shinigami! I hope everyone liked the chapter. And if you know the identity of the mysterious Arrancar, **DON'T SPOIL IT!** Let me repeat that in bold letters again: **DON'T SPOIL IT! **The mysterious Arrancar will be revealed next chapter okay? So until then, review!


	2. Arrancar Revealed

Hey there people, sorry about not updating in a while. This next chapter had me literally pulling my hair. Not… to point of my hair actually coming off, but this chapter was really giving me a hard time, making me pull my hair hard with frustration, so sorry. Anyways, it's time for another chapter of The Shinigami of Zero: Futatsuki no Shinigami. And we'll find out who the mystery Arrancar is in this chapter! To those who reviewed the first chapter of the sequel I thank you for reviewing. Now onwards!

Disclaimer: I do not own Bleach & Familiar of Zero.

* * *

Chapter 2: Arrancar Revealed

Okay, this was definitely not good. And it was definitely not the first thing I need hear early in the morning. Agnès and King Wales came over to the Academy and to Louise's where they told us all of a sudden that Queen Henrietta was kidnapped by some unknown person. Out of all the things that would happen, it's this. "What do you mean that Her Majesty was kidnapped_!_?" Louise demanded.

"This is my fault." Agnès sighed sadly.

"Wales, how did this happen?" I asked.

"I–I don't know. It all happened so fast, I didn't have time to react." Wales answered sadly. "All I know is that Henrietta and I were in our bedchamber and that when I woke up today, I saw a cloaked figure take her away and escaped through our window."

"Wait 'cloaked figure'_!_?" I repeated and showed Wales my Zanpakutō. "Did he have a sword like this?"

"Y–Yes."

"What are you getting at?" Agnès asked me.

"I have a feeling that it was that Arrancar that took the Queen." I said.

"The Arrancar?" Louise gasped. "Are you sure?"

"Yeah, I'm sure." I nodded. "He's been trying to get to me. Queen Henrietta is probably just bait."

"That bastard." Agnès said. "I'll mobilize the Firearm Squadron now."

"Don't bother." I said. "This isn't some mage you can fight; he's on a completely different level."

"But we can't just sit around and do nothing!" Agnès snapped.

"I didn't say that." I answered. "Which is why I'm gonna find and save the Queen."

"But you're still recovering from your injuries." Louise protested.

"I'm not concerned with that right now. I'm concerned for Queen Henrietta's safety."

Wales looked at me. "Are you sure you're going to be fine?"

I nodded in response. "Yeah, don't worry; I'll bring Henrietta back here safe and sound. I promise." I then took out a small box out of my Shihakushō and opened it to reveal black powder inside.

"What are you doing?" Agnès asked.

"I'm gonna track Henrietta down." I answered as I got my hands dirty using the black powder. I then knelt on the floor, drew a circle, divided it into four sections, and placed the appropriate symbols in each quadrant.

_"Heart of the South, Eye of the North, Finger of the West, Foot of the East. Arrive with the wind and depart with the rain."_

I then placed both my hands palms down just under the circle.

_"Bakudo # 58: Kakushitsuijaku!"_

The circle glows with a blue light as the symbols are animated within the circle, causing various numbers to appear within. Louise, Agnes, and Wales watched it as this happened. "31… 64… 83… 97… Found her!"

"You did_?_!" Wales gasped.

"Uh–huh. 1042 West 758 South." I said. "She's at Lagdorian Lake."

"Be careful Kurogasa." Wales said as I nodded. I was about to walk out of the room until Louise stopped me.

"Louise?"

"I'm coming with you!" Louise said. "And that's final; I want to save Her Majesty too!" I looked at her for a while and then sighed, "Fine."

"And one more thing. You're not going to use shunpo to get there."

"What_?_! Why_?_!" I asked incredulously. Is she out of her mind_?_! Shunpo is the fastest way to get there and she's not letting me use it_?_!

"Because, I'm not have you carry me using it and then puke later on!"

"What kind of reason is _that?_! It's ridiculous!"

"We'll ask Tabitha to use Sylphid." Louise said.

"What!_?_ There's no way she'll let us use Sylphid!" I said when the door flew open as Kirche and Tabitha fell to the ground. "What the–! What are you two doing here eavesdropping_?_!"

"Um, Y–Yeah." Kirche said, making me sigh in frustration.

"So Tabitha, do you mind taking us?" Louise asked while Tabitha shook her head.

"Actually, I got a better idea." I said as I turned to Wales. "Your Majesty, ride with Tabitha and Kirche. Louise and I will take the Dragon's Raiment."

"Of course, but… why?" Wales asked.

"_Someone's_ gotta get Henrietta out of there once I'm done rescuing her right?" I smirked.

"I'm not riding that thing!" Louise said. "It makes me sick."

"Well too bad." I said. "Unless you want to ride on Sylphid with Kirche?"

"Urghhhh… fine…" Louise growled.

* * *

So with that, Agnès went on ahead to Lagdorian Lake with Kirche, Tabitha, and Wales riding on Sylphid to meet up with Agnès as well. As for Louise and I, we went to Professor Colbert and asked to get the Zero Fighter started. As he was getting that prepared, I got on the wing of the plane and got inside the cockpit and Louise sat on my lap after. With a wave of his staff, Professor Colbert got the propeller's spinning and I turned on the engine as the plane roared to life. "Kurogasa, are you sure you want to fly the Dragon's Raiment now_?_!" The Professor yells over the noise of the plane and the wind gusting. "It's not completely repaired!"

"As long as it can fly, I'm fine with it!" I yelled back over the noise of the plane. "Oh, and did you put in on what I requested_?_!"

"Yes! The speed increasers with gunpowder are fitted! It increases your speed for a short amount of time, but…!"

"Hey, this is no time for chit–chat!" Louise yelled. Of course, it was because of the noise of the plane that she had to yell. "We have to catch up with Agnès and the others! Her Majesty is in danger!" Louise was right. This isn't the time to chit–chat. We had to get going and we needed to go now. Henrietta's life is at stake as it is.

"Alright Professor, we're off!" I said as I shut the cockpit canopy above Louise and me and let Colbert get out of the way. Manipulating the controls, I turned up the acceleration and let the plane move forward to pick up speed. And then all of a sudden, the rocket boosters I had Professor Colbert made suddenly burst making the plane go even faster. The only problem is, the plane's not lifting up.

"We're going to crash!" Louise yelled.

"No we're not!" I said as I yanked back on the steering controls hard in hopes of gaining some lift. Sure enough, the plane lifted, but it hit and broke off a chunk of the wall on top before I was clear to go fly over to Lagdorian Lake and the rocket boosters came off too. Man, I hope Old Osmond got castle insurance for that wall.

"Are you crazy!_?_!_?_" Louise yelled at me.

"Hey I'm driving!"

"You just destroyed that wall!" Louise yelled at me.

"Are you seriously worried about that? What's more important? The wall or Her Majesty?"

"W–Well…" Louise got out but stayed silent.

"Yeah, that's what I thought. So shut up and let me drive!"

"Fine!" Louise grumbled as she crossed her arms and pouted like a brat that didn't get what she wanted even though she kinda is.

_'Geez, I just hope I can make it in time.'_ I thought.

* * *

_Meanwhile, the Arrancar arrived at his destination, Lagdorian Lake. He landed in front of the water with Henrietta over his shoulder. It was the perfect plan to bait Kurogasa to follow him so that way he could battle him again. Only problem is, Henrietta wouldn't shut up as she was hitting his back and demanding to be released. And he was getting a minor migraine from it._

_"Let me go you fiend!" Henrietta yelled at him. "Release me this instant!"_

_He sighed in annoyance. _'This girl won't shut up.'_ He thought. He finally had enough of it as the Arrancar tossed her to the ground. "There, now will you be silent?"_

_"You fiend, how dare you kidnap the Queen of Tristan!" Henrietta yelled at him. "When Kurogasa and Wales get here you'll–" She was cut off when the Arrancar pointed his blade at her._

_"When he gets here, his life will end along with yours." The Arrancar said in a menacing tone. "Those runes of his can only take him so far."_

* * *

I continued to fly the Zero Fighter in the sky. There was still no sign of Henrietta yet. But I'm not giving up that easily. I'm gonna keep on searching for her and I won't stop until I do. But while doing that, I was pondering on who that Arrancar might be. I felt like I've seen him before I met Louise, but I can't seem to put my finger on it. "Hmm…" I said.

"What is it?" Louise asked.

"It's about that Arrancar… I feel like I've seen him somewhere before."

"You _did_. When he was at the Battle of Tarbes and during the wedding." Louise said.

"No, I meant I feel like I've seen him, _before_ all that."

"Really? Where?"

"That's the thing. I don't know." I said.

"Well, I'm sure that when we find him you'll know." Louise said.

"I hope so…" I muttered.

"Anyways can't you make this thing go faster?"

"This plane isn't invincible you know."

*POP!* *POP!*

Uh–oh. That was not good. "W–What did you do?" Louise asked now getting uneasy.

"How should _I_ know? I'm just flying the plane." But then the plane started getting all wobbly making me lose some control of the plane, but I managed to stabilize it.

"Please don't do that again." Louise said in a sigh of relief.

"No promises there." I said. "This is an old plane. I'm still surprised it's still able to fly after the punishment it took at Tarbes." I looked out towards the window and noticed some storm clouds hovering over the plane and some lightning flashed inside the clouds. That just made it even worse. Lightning does tend to strike at the highest thing. In this case, it's the plane.

*CRASH!*

"Wh–What was that_?_!" Louise stammered.

"Oh crap… that's not good…" I muttered looking behind me.

"What?"

"The tail's been fried by the lightning." I muttered. Louise then looked then saw the tail was fried up.

"Do something about it!" She yelled.

"Well, I kinda can't at the moment!" I snapped back.

*POP!* *POP!* The plane started wobbling again.

"_Now_ what did you do_?_!"

"Nothing!" I then looked to my right and noticed the right wing smoking from the inside. And then all of a sudden, black smoke started to come from the controls. Can this day get any worse? The tail's fried and the wing and controls are smoking black. This was not a good sign. "*COUGH!* *COUGH!* This is bad. The engine's been damaged." I got out.

"Engine is damaged? What do you mean by that?" Louise coughed.

"Well…" I then saw that the propellers on the plane stopped spinning. "This is what happens, when the engine is damaged." At that point, the plane started diving and spinning down.

"IDIOOOOOOOOOOOOOOT!"

"Ok, stay calm." I said to myself. I looked down below and saw that the plane was already over the lake. We've arrived at our destination, just not how we intended to arrive, but hey, it's better than nothing. "Hang on Louise; I'm going to do a crash landing!"

"YOU'RE GONNA WHAT_?_!" Louise yelled frantically.

"I didn't stutter, now hang on!" I told her while I tried to stabilize the plane, but it wasn't working. "Damn it! Come on, come on!" As I tried to stabilize the plane, a gust of wind blew under the wings so that it would level out in the air.

Louise opened her eyes. "Huh? We're not falling anymore." I looked out the window to see Tabitha, Kirche, and Wales riding on Sylphid. I guess it was Tabitha did a wind spell to level the plane in the air so it wouldn't fall.

"Are you two okay?" Wales yelled.

"Yeah, we're fine! Thanks!" I yelled back.

"There they are!" Louise yelled and pointed towards the shore of the lake where the cloaked Arrancar is waiting with Henrietta being clutched at her neck by the Arrancar's arm.

"Get ready, because I'm going to land this." I said while I was looking for a place to land. The water should be good. I swooped past the mysterious Arrancar and Henrietta, but as I did so, the wind I made during the swoop made Henrietta's hair go in that direction, as well as the Arrancar's hair. When I saw it, my eyes widened with shock. The Arrancar's hair was turquoise in color. Damn it! I knew there was something familiar about him. My worst fear has come true. I slowly let the plane land and it glided smoothly across the water before it came to a complete stop. The wing stopped at the shoreline. Louise opened the cockpit canopy, ran on the wing and jumped off with me following soon after. Sylphid landed, letting Kirche, Sylphid, and Wales off before flying up again to meet up with us.

"Queen Henrietta!" Louise cried. "Are you alright_?_!"

"Kurogasa! Louise!" Henrietta called.

"Henrietta!" Wales yelled.

"Wales!"

The Arrancar looked at me. "Impressive, you were able to locate me."

"Bastard." I drew Derf and readied him. "Let her go now!" I demanded.

"But of course, I have no use for her now. She was only bait so you and I can battle again." He said as he surprisingly let her go. I was kinda shocked at first that he would immediately comply to my demand, but I soon got over it as Henrietta ran over to Wales and went into his arms.

"Are you alright?" Wales asked.

"I'm fine."

"Now that that's done with…" The Arrancar said unsheathing his sword and pointing it at me. "I can kill you now Shinigami. And I'll take your spiritual powers with my blade."

"That's not going to happen!" I snapped. "And lose the cloak already! I know who you are! Reveal yourself, Arturo Plateado!"

"Hmph. So you know who I am. Very well." He removed the cloak from himself.

"I knew it…" I grimaced as I saw his full figure. He had turquoise hair, yellow eyes, and the remains of his Hollow mask on his right cheek, his appearance almost mimicking Grimmjow's. It appears to be the upper jaw, but is extended around the back of his head and has a sort of crest. His Hollow hole is located below the base of his neck. He wears the basic Arrancar uniform, but with a belt worn just underneath his sash. I have to admit, I never thought of seeing a real Arrancar in person, seeing Arturo in the flesh despite him being a made up character made by Sega in conjunction with Tite Kubo for the Shattered Blade and 3rd Phantom game. But despite all that, I remembered that Arturo is an evil Hollow. And like all evil Hollows, they need to be taken down.

"I was growing bored of the disguise anyways." Arturo said.

"Oh my." Kirche said in amazement. "He's handsome, but not as handsome as Darling."

_'Really?'_ I thought. _'Right now?'_ Out loud… "Now start talking! How did you come to this world and how are you alive, Arturo_?_!" I demanded. "You're supposed to be _dead_ after Fujimaru and Matsuri Kudo dealt with you!" Arturo smirked at me, but it wasn't the arrogant one I was used to seeing on his face. Likely, he was seething from the defeat that was handed to him but had some time to get over it a little.

"I have Fénix to thank for that." Arturo explained. "Apparently there's a side effect it has for absorbing so much spiritual energy. It can store vast quantities of it and heal me of wounds that I receive, even lethal ones if given enough time."

What_?_! I've never even heard of an ability like that! Sure, Fénix's abilities were a bit vague in detail when I read about Arturo and his Zanpakuto on the wiki, but hearing of an ability like that one, was something new for me and it's a dangerous one at that. I'm gonna be in for one hell of a fight for my life.

"As for how I came to this world, to be honest, I am not sure how. But enough talk." Arturo said as his red reiatsu wings grew out of his back and his reiatsu flared up to dangerous levels that brought everyone but me and him to their knees. "It is time for Fénix to feast on your soul!"

"What… power…" Louise said while she tried to stand but to no avail.

"Not if I have to say anything about it!" I snapped back. "BANKAI!" A pillar of reiatsu surrounded me for a few seconds before it dispersed, revealing me in my Bankai form.

_"Derflinger Magicae Egredietur!"_

With that, Arturo and I jumped in the air, and we clashed like there's no tomorrow. My sword clashed against Arturo's, sparks flying from the impact. The sheer force of it all was enough to make me almost lose my balance. Damn this guy was fast and strong! Ichigo and the rest took on guys like this and still came out on top? Kicking off from the point, Arturo and I got some distance between each other. I was panting slightly while he on the other hand looked as fresh as ever.

"Partner," Derflinger spoke up. "Something's weird about that sword of his. It's like it's trying to eat me every time we strike or something."

"Figures." I frowned, keeping my eyes on the Arrancar. "His sword has the ability to absorb the power of the enemies he kills with it. It's how he stormed Soul Society and took on the military force of the Gotei 13 all by himself."

"Oh? And you know of me quite extensively as well." Arturo smirked. "That was over a thousand years ago. I guess my charge was indeed legendary."

"Well, you're about to get a legendary beat down!" I said as I charged at him again with Derflinger using shunpo and of course, Arturo blocked with his blade. For a while, we've been exchanging blow after blow, parrying attack after every attack. I struggled to keep Arturo's blade from connecting with me while Arturo laughed. "What's the matter Shinigami? There's no way you're this weak!"

"Who said anything about being weak!_?_" I flared my reiatsu up to try and match his while I forced myself to my feet once more.

Arturo smiled. "That's more like it." Arturo created a cero orb in his hand, except this time the orb was white instead of red. "Cero." I quickly used shunpo to get out of the way as he fired a massive white blast that demolished everything behind me. I looked to see all of the trees in ashes.

'_Damn…'_ I thought. _'That was too close. I managed to somehow dodge that Gran Rey Cero.'_

"What are you spacing out for?" Arturo asked which snapped me out my thoughts while he created another white orb. "Cero."

"Get ready Partner!" Derf yelled when the white blast came towards me as Derf absorbed it, fully covering me in Siegfried's armor.

"Darling's at full power now!" Kirche got out. "He doesn't stand a chance now!"

"Get ready Arturo!" I yelled and raised Derf in the air. _"Majutsu Shōgekiha!"_ I sent an extremely powerful shock wave that reverted my armor to its initial state and caused a huge explosion.

"Did he get him?" Louise wondered while she shielded herself from the explosion.

"Can't tell." Tabitha said.

"Hehehe." Everyone froze as they heard laughter coming from the flames. "Don't you learn Shinigami? You cannot kill me when I have Fénix in my possession; it only rises from the ashes more powerful than ever!" Arturo raised his blade and absorbed the flames around him while his reiatsu kept getting bigger and bigger.

"Damn…" I muttered.

"He doesn't have a scratch on him!" Wales said in shock. "How is that possible?"

"It's his swords ability." I explained. "Any attack that requires reiatsu will be absorbed in order to increase his own power."

"You are correct." Arturo said. "My powers are so frightening that captain level Shinigami, flee in my presence, I'm rather surprised you're still here."

"Well, I'm either really brave or really stupid." I said.

"I wouldn't call it bravery." Arturo used a Sonido and appeared in front of me. "I would call it stupidity." Arturo slashed at me as I blocked the strike with Derf.

_'Damn, I know Arturo's strong but I didn't know he was_ this _strong!'_ I thought while I struggled against Arturo's might. I quickly used a Shunpo in order to distance myself from him. "You're not getting away that easily!" Arturo came at me with his sword ready.

"Get ready partner!" Derf yelled. "Find an opening!"

"Got it." I readied Derf and waited for the right moment to strike. That moment came when Arturo tried to slash at my chest. I blocked the sword strike and slashed Arturo which made him back up a few feet. He looked at his sleeve to see a large cut on it and his arm was bleeding.

"He was so close." Louise muttered.

"Well well, looks like you _can_ be hurt after all." I taunted Arturo who began to laugh. "What's so funny?"

"You really think you have a chance because you nicked me!" Arturo wiped the blood away to reveal that the cut already closed up. "You're back to square one now."

"Damn… High–Speed Regeneration…" I muttered.

"That's right." Arturo created a Cero in his hand. "There's no way you can win now!" He fired the Cero at me which I barely dodged with a shunpo while he appeared behind me with a Sonido. "This is the end!" Arturo slashed at me.

"Not a chance!" I parried his slash as both of our blades collided, causing a powerful shock wave to tear through the field and send everyone back a few feet.

"Incredible." Henrietta said in shock while Wales nodded.

"It is. I have never seen anyone with the same power as Kurogasa until now." Wales said. "It's frightening."

Our swords were locked in a power struggle with each other. "I'll admit this Shinigami." Arturo said. "Out of all of the shinigami, you were the second one to amuse me this much."

"Gee, I'm flattered…" I said deadpanned.

"Now allow me to reward you for amusing me, by going at full power!"

"You're joking right?" Kirche asked. "Darling survived all of your attacks!"

"Here's the truth." Arturo said. "I've only been fighting at about 50% power."

Everyone gasped in shock. "W–What_?_!" Louise asked in shock. "That's impossible!"

"Is it? Well then, allow me to demonstrate 100%!" Arturo said as his reiatsu flared up to critical and beyond. Everyone was practically on the ground due to the pressure and heck, it was even crushing the Zero Fighter! Damn… this isn't good at all. Arturo kicked me in the gut sending me flying way back.

"AHHHHH!" I yelled in excruciating pain. I could hear a few ribs brake at that point.

"Kurogasa!" I heard Louise scream as I hit a nearby tree.

Arturo began to laugh. "Once this is over I will truly be the strongest after I take your powers!" He then used Sonido again to get close to me and clutched at my neck pinning me to the tree while choking me. "Tell me shinigami, what is it you cherish?" Arturo asked me while I struggled to breathe. "Before I take your life, I will end the lives of the people you cherish most."

"You… stay away from them!" I gritted. "Your fight's with me!"

"My fight is with you?" Arturo smirked. "You look like you don't have any fight left in you!"

"Oh yeah?" I snarled. Pushing my dwindling reiatsu into my legs, I shot forth at Shunpo speeds, crashing into Arturo's torso, sending us both sprawling across our little battlefield before we hit the dirt, crash down hard and skidding across the grass, leaving a dirt rut where we went. We rolled to a stop and I made sure that I was on top. My mind was numb with exhaustion and pain, but all I knew was that I had to take down Arturo before he started killing everyone.

I lashed out with every weapon I had, fist and sword alike. I smashed against his skin with my fists. If he had his Hierro on, I couldn't tell since my hands were already numb from blood loss. He blocked my sword with Fénix despite the awkward angle as I continued smashing his face with my free hand. My vision kind of blurred at this point, but I was still sure I was hitting him.

"Hmph!"

A heavy impact got me in the chest, sending me sailing backwards and crashing into the dirt again. My mind was foggy and my libs were growing heavy.

"Desperate people do desperate things," I heard him sigh. "Best not to let your guard down even against a near dead opponent. A good lesson to know. Perhaps as thanks, I'll make your death quick and painless when I deliver the final blow to you, Shinigami. But for now, I'll amuse myself with how long you can block this Gran Rey Cero." He said as he formed an orb of energy and fired at me. Instinctively, I blocked with Derf and armor started to grow on me.

"Hey Void girl!" Derf yelled, getting Louise's attention. "Now would be a great time to use that book!"

"The… book?" Louise wondered as she struggled getting up despite the reiatsu Arturo and I gave off and opened it. "But it's blank."

"It ain't blank _now_!" Derf said again. Louise looked again and saw runes appeared and etching on to the pages.

"Dispel magic?" Louise asked.

"You need to cast it!" Derf yelled. "Partner, can you try hold out longer?"

"I'll… try…" I grunted.

"You _have_ to! Void magic takes time to cast! Go for it Void girl!" Louise nodded as she began her chant.

_"Buru sirsas an sudake…"_

I continued to try and hold out as armor continued to grow on me, but then suddenly, the intensity of the Cero increased, making me slide back little by little.

_"Kyofu ni do narushis…"_

"C'mon… C'mon…" I grunted as I kept sliding back.

"Hang in there Partner, just a little more!" Derf encouraged.

_"Haelus yara…_ _deteo is!"_ The runes on the pages began to glow.

"That's it! Louise, cast the Void Spell on me!" Derf yelled. Louise nodded as he pointed her wand at Derf and fired a ray of energy at him. At that point, Derf suddenly glowed brighter with power and intensity equal to that of the Gran Rey Cero. "Alright Partner, push forward!"

"Got it!" I said as I did so, and as I did so, the Gran Rey Cero was being cut in half as I flew towards Arturo.

"What_?_!" Arturo yelled. The next thing he knew, I was suddenly in front of him.

"Take this! _Majutsu Shōgekiha!_" I yelled slashing at Arturo's torso with a huge energy shockwave with the armor receding just to my arm. At that point, Arturo slid back a few feet with a rather enormous gash across his torso and waist with blood spewing out and his head down. Well, at least that was better than nothing. But then, I saw that whole wound close up fast thanks to his High–Speed Regeneration. Arturo then started laughing as he looked up.

"I must say your efforts to defeat me is quite amusing, but futile." Arturo laughed.

"Damn it…" I muttered as I finally reached my limit. I finally fell unconscious with the darkness embracing me.

* * *

_"PARTNER!" Derflinger shouted._

_"KUROGASA!" Louise, Henrietta, and Wales yelled with Tabitha gasping in shock._

_"DARLING!" Kirche screamed as he fell to the ground and reverted out of his Bankai and Derflinger reverted back to his sealed state. The reiatsu somewhat died down, as the rest of the group managed to get up and run over to their fallen friend. At that point, Arturo used Sonido and was next to the group. Louise and the others were on full alert as they got in front of Kurogasa and Louise, Kirche, and Tabitha pointed their wands, staff for Tabitha, at him. "Stay back!"_

_Arturo ignored the threat as he looked at the unconscious Kurogasa. "Hmph. Pathetic. As I said, those runes of his could only take him so far." He then turned around and opened up a Garganta. He looked over his shoulder at the group. "For being amused by your Shinigami friend, I will reward you all by being spared this day. But the next time we meet, I will not be as merciful." With that, he walked through the Garganta and the Garganta closed. As soon as he was gone, everyone relaxed, and they turned to Kurogasa._

_"Darling! Can you hear me? Speak to me!" Kirche cried out, but there was no response. Wales knelt down and checked his vitals._

_"He's still alive…" Wales said. Everyone sighed in relief._

_"We need to get back to the Academy now." Henrietta said._

_"But what about the Dragon's Raiment?" Louise asked._

_"I'll have our men see to it that it's brought to the Academy." Wales said then turned to Tabitha. "Tabitha, please call Sylphid._

_Nodding, Tabitha brought her fingers to her lips and let out a shrill whistle. It didn't take long for the large blue dragon to fly down to the ground. It took a bit of maneuvering to get everyone onto the dragon's back but it was worth it. Tabitha sat at the base of Sylphid's neck so that she could guide her Familiar properly._

_"Please hurry," Louise mumbled to Tabitha. The bluenette nodded before she tapped Sylphid's side, making the dragon take off in the direction of their school._

* * *

Ughhh… finally! I thought I was _never _going to get this chapter done! Like I said, it was a pain in the ass to do and it had literally pulling my hair. But anyways, there you have it! And yes, Arturo Plateado is the mysterious Arrancar! Again, sorry about not updating this story in a while. So, get to reviewing!


	3. The Paladin's Sword

Man, have I not been not updating in a while again? Geez, I gotta update stuff constantly. I'm really, really, sorry not updating this story in a while. But anyways, everyone, it's time for chapter 3 of Shinigami of Zero: Futatsuki no Shinigami! Also, we get to learn a little bit about Kurogasa's past in this chapter. So here we go!

Disclaimer: I do not own Bleach & Familiar of Zero.

* * *

Chapter 3: The Paladin's Sword

It's been another month since my battle with Arturo. That battle really knocked me out. Battling him at the wedding was nothing compared to what happened last month. During the battle at the wedding, I was out for a few days. The battle I had with Arturo last month had me knocked out for the first two weeks. And for the rest of the two weeks of that month, I was mostly cooped up every day in Louise's room recovering and whenever I get out of her bed, even with Louise helping me up out of it, I had to use all of my strength just so I could simply walk. Yeah, it was _that_ bad. Fortunately, with Louise and the others, they were able to help me get through that month and I was progressively getting better each day. Right now, I can walk by myself… most of the time. I still feel a bit wobbly, but I can move around. And I can manage to swing Derf around to an extent. I just need to not put any more strain on my body than it already is. Probably by tomorrow I'll be at 100%. I was now outside with Louise at the Vestri Court and there were many other boys and girls out there. The thing is… most of the guy students at the Academy were allowed to enlist in the army and their girlfriends were sad to see them go. Montmorency and Guiche were no exception. I looked on at the couple as they were talking and Montmorency's back towards Guiche.

"Montmorency, I'm off to be enlisted in the army." Guiche said. "I hoped that you might bid me farewell with a smile.

"With a smile?" Montmorency asked with her voice trembling. "Do you realize that you could lose your life in battle?"

"To die while protecting the Kingdom… wouldn't that bring honor to the families?"

At that point, the Water Mage turned around with her face contorted with sadness and anguish with tears running down her face. "What kind of honor is that?!" She asked in anguish. "If you die, we won't be able to see each other again!"

"That's what you think of me?" The Earth Mage asked touched by her words.

"Isn't it obvious?"

I looked on at them and the rest of the boys and girls sadly. "The Tristain Army is really serious about launching an attack on Albion huh?" I sighed not liking it already. No scratch that: I hate it. War in general just makes me sick to my stomach.

"Yes. They even allowed the males in the Academy to enlist in the army." Louise answered.

"I don't like that…" I muttered.

"I don't like it either, but we _have_ to prevail against Albion." Louise told me. Just then, I noticed something up in the sky. I couldn't see it at first, but it was coming closer towards us. It appeared to be a white dragon and someone was riding on it. Everyone else was looking up at what I was looking at too. Then the dragon landed safely on the ground and the rider jumped off. It was a male around my age wearing a white robe clothing of some sort with a blue cape over it with a rapier at his side. He had blonde hair was messy and short and his eyes were heterochromatic. One being blue and the other pink. And believe it or not, he had one of those pretty boy faces.

All of a sudden, the girls excluding Louise who was still trying to figure what's going on along with me were already enamored by him, including Montmorency completely forgetting about their boyfriends. All of the other guys were suddenly irritated by this. "KYAAAAHHHH! So charming!" Some of the girls cried out.

"Wow… talk about a major mood swing…" I said to myself sweat dropping. The girls suddenly got over their boyfriends, by _this_ guy? I straightened myself out as the man in question came up to Louise and I "Who are you?" I asked.

"I'm Julio Chesaré. I'm a transfer student from Romalia." He introduced. "Nice to meet you." He smiled. I could've sworn I saw his teeth sparkle at one end of his smile. Yep, definitely one of those pretty boys. Don't get me wrong, I got nothing against people like him in general, but they just creep me out for some strange reason. Almost on par to seeing Scarron in his usual attire which I still shudder at to this day.

* * *

Later on, class started after the boys left the Academy to go war against Albion, save for me and this Julio guy. As Professor Colbert gave the lecture, most of the girls, were practically staring at Julio while he was taking notes. Geez, what's so great about this guy besides his good looks?

"I hear he's some sort of priest from Romalia." Kirche said. "That's why he can't join the Royal Army."

What? A priest? Then why the heck does he have a sword with him? That doesn't make any sense at all.

"A Priest from Romalia…" Tabitha said. "Why did he come to the Academy?"

"Who cares? What's so bad about it anyways? He's got a handsome look after all."

*Sigh…* and of course Kirche easily falls for someone as handsome like him. No surprise there. Just then the doors to the classroom opened. Everyone and I looked to see Agnès and about four more of Henrietta's Firearm Squadron coming in. "Agnès?" I wondered.

"Everyone, gather at the assembly area." Agnès commanded.

"Who _are_ you people?" Colbert asked with a bit of demanding in his tone of voice.

"I'm from Her Majesty's Firearm Squadron. In order to train the Royal Army for battle, we will be using the Academy for the time being. All lessons are to be suspended effective immediately!"

"Suspended?!" Colbert gasped. Not surprising really. We're in the middle of a war after all.

"Everyone go to the Assembly area now! Quickly!" Agnès said. One by one, the girls stood up from their seats and were going to go down until…

"Students, take your seats." Colbert said. "We will continue with our lesson."

"Teacher, this is war time. This isn't the time to do a lesson in class." Agnès insisted.

"Because it's war time, they need to learn about the foolishness of fighting a war." Colbert countered. "Although all the male students have been enlisted… Will you people stop talking about war in school?!" At that point, Agnès drew her sword and I quickly jumped down to the area and blocked Agnès's sword from reaching.

"K–Kurogasa." Colbert stuttered while he backed up.

"Put your sword away Kurogasa." Agnès glared at me.

"Give me one good reason." I glared back at her. "And it better be a legitimate one."

"Fine, you want a legitimate reason here it is: we're at war, we need to teach them how to fight properly if we're invaded."

"But that's no reason to draw your sword against a teacher." I growled at her as Louise stood up.

"That's enough Kurogasa!" Louise ordered. "Let her do her job!" I glanced at Louise for a bit then back at Agnès before I sheathe Derf with Agnès doing the same.

"You try anything against someone like Professor Colbert, then we're gonna have a serious problem."

"I should say the same for you if you try anything against me. Don't interfere with my mission." She said before turning back to the students. "Everyone, gather at the assembly area." With that, the girls and Julio left the classroom. I then heard Professor Colbert then slid down the wall while breathing in relief, tugging at the collar of his coat as if trying to loosen the grip the collar was giving him on his neck. I turned around and knelt down on one knee.

"You alright Professor?" I asked concerned.

"I'm fine, thank you Kurogasa…"

"It's no problem."

"This is foolish. Why did this war even have to begin in the first place?" Professor Colbert sighed.

"I don't know…" I answered shaking my head sadly. "All we can do is hope that this foolish war ends soon."

"I pray and hope that you're right Kurogasa…"

* * *

A little later on, the girls and Julio were at the Vestri Court, each of them carrying a long wooden staff with a ball on top covered and wrapped by a cloth. Kirche was obviously unhappy because a girl like her wouldn't do something like this.

"Attention! We will start training now!" Agnès declared.

"Wait!" I heard Montmorency call. Agnès turned to her. "We're mages; we don't need tools like this!" She said throwing down her stick. "Be it attacking or defending, we'll just need to practice our battle magic!"

"Magic, eh?" Agnès asked walking up to her and suddenly taking her wand away and twisting her arm behind her back. "Try using magic now."

"O–Ouch!" Montmorency winced in pain.

"You can't do anything once your wand is gone right? You would've been killed if I were an enemy."

"L–Let me go!" Montmorency demanded.

"You won't know what would happen in a real battle even if you can use magic." She said letting go of her and then throwing her wand back at Montmorency to which the latter caught. And she was bit miffed at this too. "Listen up!" Agnès continued. "We will begin basic training now to protect yourself in battle! Begin!"

And so the training went on with the girl paired up against each other to do mock battle. As for me, I was on the sidelines practicing my sword strikes with a wooden bokken with an attached tsuba I made myself without me straining myself of course. Now I _did_ say that I had no experience with swords at all before I was given the Gandalfr runes. That was true, but the thing is, I had no experience with _real_ swords. Wooden swords, like my handmade wooden bokken is a different story. I had experience on that. Back on Earth, I was pretty good at kendo, not to mention that I was a two–time Kendo World Champion in Japan. But lately, my kendo skills have gotten a little rusty so I have been working out on that ever since I decided to stay here in Louise's world and it's paying off. As I continued to train, I noticed that some of the girls have gathered Julio including Kirche. No surprise there.

"Hey there, will you train with me?" Kirche asked seductively. Oh geez Kirche… even though I warned you about the Gates of Hell a couple months back, you're still being like that?

"Sorry, but I've already decided on who will be opponent." Julio as he walked over to his opponent who happens to be… Louise? Louise happened to notice him coming up to her. "Miss Vallière, no should I call you Louise?"

"Okay, just what is this pretty boy up to?" I growled as I stopped swinging my bokken in practice. "He better not be hitting on Louise."

"Jealous Partner?" Derflinger snickered as he snickered as he wriggled up from his sheath. I blushed red at this.

"What?! Are you kidding? Me? Jealous? No way!"

"Are you sure?"

"Of course not! I'm just being protective of Louise! And no, not in _that_ way. Louise and I have more of a brother/sister relationship and I'm just being the protective brother I am."

"Sure…"

"It's true!" But then I caught on to something moving out of the corner of my eye.

Movement!

I turned quickly and I blocked something. Apparently, it was a wooden sword and my attacker happens to be Agnès's lieutenant, Michelle. "Good reflex."

"Heh. Trying to sneak up on me huh?" I smirked.

"I just wanted to see how good you really are." She said. "Prepare yourself!" She then began to swing at me with the wooden sword while I kept blocking the attacks.

_'I've got to attack eventually.'_ I thought. _'But I'm not finding an opening.'_ The attacks continued to go on for quite a while as Michelle slashed and stabbed where as I parried, blocked, and dodge all the while. And she's definitely not letting up on her attacks.

"C'mon Partner you gotta find an opening!" Derf urged.

"What do you think I've been doing the whole time while blocking?" I retorted. Michelle went for a stab at me and I blocked it. "An opening!" I swung the wooden sword at where she was holding hers and hit the hilt forcing her to let go of the sword while it landed behind me. I pointed my sword at her while she smirked.

"You're reflexes are top notch even without the runes." Michelle complimented me. "I can see why His & Her Majesty think highly of you."

"Training using a wooden sword for a few years can do wonders for ya." I said as I brought down my bokken. But then, I started to feel wobbly and I suddenly fell down butt first and I just sat there panting a bit.

"Are you okay?" Michelle asked a bit concerned.

"Yeah, you still out of it, Partner?" Derflinger asked.

"I guess so… otherwise, I'd still be standing." I sighed.

"Kurogasa!" Louise's voice called as I turned around and saw her concerned face as he ran up to me and knelt down.

"I'm fine Louise…"

"No you're not. You're still not fully recovered. I told you not to strain yourself." Louise scolded a bit.

"And I haven't been. And I was taking it easy with swinging my wooden sword when I was training by myself too, until now."

"Still…"

"Alright, alright, if it makes you feel better, I won't strain myself for the rest of the day."

"Well, that was interesting spar you just had." A voice said. Louise and I turned to see Julio walking towards us. "Kurogasa, was it? Will you have a watch me?"

"Why would I want to have a match with you?" I asked cautiously raising my eyebrow in suspicion. Just what is this pretty boy up to?

"I'm just curious." He chuckled.

"Curious?"

"Right." Julio said. "Oh, and the winner gets to kiss Louise."

WHOA! WHOA! WHOA! WHOA! WHOA! He said what?! I got up immediately obviously shocked at what the stakes were. "What did you just say?!" My voice projected out.

"Wait a second! What are you blabbering about kissing?!" Louise said obviously shocked as well with her face obviously red. "You're a priest right?!"

"I've stopped for the time being ever since I came to Tristain. That's why I'm allowed to carry a sword."

What kind of logic is _that_? You can't stop being a priest and be a warrior for a certain amount of time and then after that go back to being a priest! He's just like Wapol from the One Piece show. He can't just be a King, and then be a pirate for a certain amount of time, then go back to being King. Once you have a profession, you stick _to_ it! Plain and simple! Well, if you don't like the profession you're doing, then yeah, it's a different story, but still!

"It's the same when it comes to love." Julio said as he suddenly held Louise close.

Okay, I've just about had it with him! I immediately got between Louise and Julio making the latter back off with that smug look still on his face. "Back off pretty boy! Listen, I don't care who you are, but that Mr. Know–It–All attitude of yours is really gonna cause some problems!"

"So I take it that you accept my challenge?" Julio smirked at me.

"You better believe it!"

Louise grabbed my arm and smiled at Julio. "Could you excuse us for a minute?" Louise then dragged me away from the group and glared at me. "What are you thinking?!" Louise growled at me "Do I even get an opinion in this!?"

"Well, I can tell that obviously, you don't want to kiss Julio do you?"

"Obviously I don't! But you agreed to the terms!" Louise continued to grill me on the matter.

"Hey! I'm doing you a favor, okay? I'm not doing this for a kiss. I'm doing this so he'll get off our backs!"

Louise growled at me again. "Fine, but you're using only wooden swords when you fight." She huffed. "And no Shinigami powers. That includes your shunpo."

"What?! Why can't I use it?" I asked incredulously.

"Because that would be cheating."

"Oh c'mon, shunpo isn't really bad. I'm just going really fast when using it. I'm gonna need every advantage I can get here."

"I don't care; I want you to win on your own power." Louise said. "Unless, you _think_ you're going to lose."

"Lose to _that_ pretty boy? Not a chance…" I scoffed. "Fine… I won't use any Shinigami powers."

"Good. Other than that… you better win."

"Oh, I _plan_ on it." Louise and I went back to the group with Julio waiting after our little meeting. "Alright, for this fight, we're only using wooden swords. You just name the time and place."

"Very well then, we will meet back here tomorrow morning." Julio turned around and began to walk away. "Be prepared for my victory."

_'I _really_ can't wait to beat you senseless pretty boy.'_ I thought while I grew annoyed every passing minute.

* * *

The next day came by. I woke up really early in the morning. Not causing a disturbance to Louise, I left her room out via window and I told Derflinger that I'm going out for a bit to meditate over at a forest not too far from the school. I told Derflinger that when Louise wakes up, she is to tell Tabitha and Sylphid to come get me. Reason for meditating there, was because strangely enough, there was a waterfall there. Yeah, a waterfall in the forest here in Halkeginia, I know, it's crazy. But hey, I ain't complaining. I arrived at my destination where the waterfall is with an extra Shihakushō with me. I set it down and then took off the shirt part of my Shihakushō leaving me in just my black hakama pants. I then hopped over to a large rock where the water was crashing down on it. I sat down Indian style on the rock with my hands on my knees with the water crashing down on me and I begin meditating.

I was surrounded by the sound of the water, my eyes are closed, the temperature is stable, and I was in the midst of running water. I had to say still and concentrate. Right now I'm concentrating on the duel, and what I intend to do. And that's winning against Julio. As I concentrated on that, I began to lose touch with my senses. I no longer feel or hear the water. Even though I don't feel the water, I could tell that my skin and muscles are relaxed. It's been like this for a few hours until…

"Hey." I recognized the voice to be Agnès as I still kept my eyes closed. "What are you doing?"

"I'm clearing my head for today's duel." I answered.

"Under a waterfall?" Agnès asked confused.

"Meditation under a waterfall does wonders for ya. It's all about concentration and clearing your mind of all distractions. Not to mention from a physical point of view that it promotes better blood circulation and that it replenishes your muscles and skin. You should try it some time."

"No thanks." Agnès replied to me.

"Suit yourself."

"Kurogasa!" A voice called. I finally opened my eyes as I saw Sylphid flying overhead with Louise holding Derflinger and Tabitha on top as the latter got Sylphid to land.

"Louise?" I said.

"Louise told me to come get you." Tabitha told me. Oh, looks like Derf told Louise to tell Tabitha. So with that, I stood up from my place and jumped over to dry land.

"Are you ready?" Louise asked.

"Yep. After some meditating and clearing my head," I said while drying my hair with a towel. "I'm ready for anything. Just give me few minutes to change into clean clothes." I said. After changing into a new, dry, and clean Shihakushō, of course privately, I was ready to go with my mind focused and clear. "Alright, I'll see you back at the Academy." I said.

"You're going to need this." Louise said as she tossed me my bokken.

"Thanks." I said as I caught it.

"Go get him Partner!" Derflinger cheered. I nodded at that. With that, Agnès rode with Tabitha and Louise flying back to the Academy as I shunpo over there.

* * *

_Meanwhile, back at the Tristain Academy of Magic, just about every girl with Agnès's squad was at the assembly area with Julio waiting his wooden sword in hand. They've been waiting for several minutes until Sylphid appeared overhead and gently landed on the ground with Louise holding Derflinger, Tabitha, and Agnès getting off the dragon's back. As soon as that happened, Kurogasa arrived via shunpo as a dust cloud blew overhead. When the dust cleared, Kurogasa had his bokken in tow in an Ichigo Kurosaki pose when he first activated his Bankai against Byakuya._

_"You've arrived." Julio smirked._

_"I wouldn't miss this duel to kick your ass." Kurogasa retorted back as he got in his battle stance. "And I will win this one."_

_"Then, we shall begin." Julio said and then he turned to Louise. "Louise, I hope you're prepared for the kiss I'm going to give you." Louise blushed in irritation and that popped a vein in Kurogasa's head._

_"Why you!" Kurogasa growled as he suddenly ran towards Julio and swung his bokken with Julio blocking with his wooden sword. The battle has begun._

_"I see you are quick to anger." Julio said while blocking my sword strikes. "This will make victory that much simpler." The girls behind him squealed in amazement while Kurogasa kept attacking._

_"How about you start attacking instead of blocking!" Kurogasa yelled while we crossed swords._

_Julio smiled. "Very well then." Julio then started to go on the offensive and started to slash at me while Kurogasa started to block._

'This would be a whole lot easier if I was able to use shunpo.'_ Kurogasa thought while blocking the sword strikes. _'Geez Louise, you better be thankful after this is over.' _The battle continued on as Kurogasa and Julio continued to strike at each other. And it's been going on for a couple minutes. Kurogasa yelled and charged at him with his wooden sword ready._

_Julio gave a light chuckle. "How amateurish." He raised his sword and prepared for Kurogasa's attack._

_"Take this!" Kurogasa swung his wooden sword while Julio blocked the strike. "What the–!?"_

_"Come now, you knew this was coming." Julio said. "A frontal assault never works in battle." Kurogasa only growled and broke the clash as he kept attacking Julio, not giving him time to counterattack. And Julio kept on either blocking or dodging his attack._

_"Partner! You have to calm down!" Derflinger yelled from the sidelines. "You gonna lose if that anger of yours keeps building up!"_

_"You know you should listen to your blade." Julio said while he kept blocking the sword strikes. "Your anger will cloud your judgment."_

_"I don't need your advice!" Kurogasa snapped as he continued on with the attacks. _

_Meanwhile, most of the girls were cheering for Julio. "Kurogasa! You better not lose!" Montmorency said. Well, at least someone was cheering for Kurogasa._

_"Oh? You're cheering for Kurogasa?" Kirche asked raising an eyebrow at her. _

_Montmorency looked a bit embarrassed about it. "Well, I can obviously tell that Kurogasa isn't happy with Julio kissing Louise right?"_

_"Oh, so you don't want to allow Julio to kiss Louise right? I see."_

_Derf wriggled out of his sheath and looked at Agnès. "So, who do you think will win?"_

_"Hard to say, I've only seen Kurogasa in combat." Agnès explained. "But now seeing Julio fight, it might go either way. Although, there's something about Julio's fighting I don't like at all." She frowned heavily. Derf seemed to sense it as well._

_"Mmmm… you're right. I can tell by his movements." Derf grimaced as well. "Partner's not gonna like this when this fight's over."_

_"Who does that Julio person think he is?" Agnès said._

_The battle continued on as Kurogasa and Julio continued to clash their wooden swords against each other. The wooden blades met and crashed against one another. Kurogasa soon pushed Julio back. He began slashing, attempting to find a weak point in his stance while he defended._ _The two of them danced like the wind across the court, striking at one another time and time again. _'Something's not right here.' _Kurogasa thought as he continued to battle Julio. _'His attacks were strong at first, but now it's slightly getting weaker each time we hit. It's as if he's…' _They clashed again as Kurogasa swiped at Julio with his sword but he ducked and skidded backwards. And once again they clashed and both their wooden swords stayed there as they stare each other down both of them trying to get the better of the other by pushing._

_"You know something? I wonder if you're really a priest." Kurogasa grunted. "Do you really want to kiss Louise that badly? Even though you said you quit, isn't the truth that you got sacked because you are too despicable?" At this point, Julio's eyes narrowed with anger. Kurogasa saw the moment. "Gotcha!" He swung, but he missed as Julio moved to the side with the smug look on his face. That angry look was just a front. "What?!" Kurogasa gasped._

_"Trying to provoke a reaction from me to creating an opening for you eh? How naïve and pathetic." Julio smirked. "And now you're wide open!" Julio said as he swung. Reacting quickly with how much little time he has to react, he turned around to swing his wooden sword and…_

_*WHACK!*_

_The girls watched in awe and the soldiers watched with stoic looks on their faces as a wooden sword flew up in the air before landed sticking into the ground._

_And it wasn't Kurogasa's. _

_It was Julio's. Julio got on one knee as he said, "I lost…" All of the girls excluding Tabitha and Louise and the Firearm Squadron all gathered around him to see if he was okay. Kurogasa just stood there at first dumbfounded, but then… he was visibly trembling, his features tightening with fury and his entire body tensing. At that point, he got through the crowd of girls to Julio. What happened next… was Kurogasa grabbing his collar and punching him in the face which everyone was shocked._

_"Kurogasa!" Louise said shocked._

_"Darling!" Kirche gasped in equal shock as well. Wasting no time, Kurogasa then shunpo to Julio and grabbed him by the collar again._

_"YOU BASTARD! WHO THE HELL DO YOU THINK YOU ARE, LOSING ON PURPOSE LIKE THAT?!" He yelled with fury._

_At a surface glance, it looked like quite a bit of an overboard reaction and to Julio's fan girls, and it certainly was. They cried out in outrage at Kurogasa's attack. Louise was going to run to the source of the no heated conflict and stop her familiar, but a hand gripped her shoulder tightly. Looking up, she saw Agnès frowning down at her. "Don't," she warned. "Julio earned this. This kind of insult is not tolerated to a warrior."_

_"Huh?" Louise blinked._

_"I don't expect you to notice, but _I_ did," Agnès explained. "Julio's a knight from Romalia. They're trained to fight and do battle in swords and combat. I hardly believe that even if Kurogasa is the Gandalfr he would've won this quickly. Julio's reflexes were sharp when he first moved, but then I noticed he held them back. And he was _indeed_ holding them back. To someone who trains themselves hard and strives to become better, to be taken so lightly is a grievous insult."_

_"NO SCREWS WITH ME LIKE THAT AND GETS AWAY WITH IT!" Kurogasa yelled._

_"Heh… well, it's your own fault for falling for it." Julio smirked. That did it. It hit a nerve. Flashes of memories started to flood to him. And to one particular memory that suddenly resurfaced for the first time in five years. A memory that he wanted to forget but can't._

_**"****It's your own fault for falling for it. EYAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA! " A man's voice cackled insanely.**_

_Kurogasa trembled even more in anger as he now flared his reiatsu to a dangerous level making the people there get on their knees. Next thing that happened was Kurogasa using shunpo to slam Julio to a wall of the castle making a huge crater. "TAKE THAT BACK!" Kurogasa demanded._

_"Kurogasa! Stop it!" Louise cried out, struggling to get back up under the crushing spiritual pressure._

_"Partner! Calm down!" Derflinger pleaded. "Just calm down! I know this guy's annoying but–!"_

_"Why!?" Kurogasa asked. "Why do you have to be like that man?!"_

_"Huh?" Louise got out._

_"Those words… were the same words… of the man who murdered my parents in cold blood!" Louise and the others gasped. "TAKE THOSE WORDS BACK!" _

_Kurogasa's eyes were wide and focused, but Julio could see that they were not focusing on him. They were looking back into the past, a past which he had accidentally forced back to light with his words. He was simply supposed to see how the skills of the Gandalfr stacked against his own, learn about the boy, the ins and outs of his abilities. Now it seemed he found a hair trigger to him… and a potential weakness._

_"TAKE IT BACK!" Kurogasa yelled._

_"Kurogasa!" Louise cried out as she managed to somehow get up and get over to Kurogasa. "That's enough! Stop this!"_

_"Out of my way Louise!" Kurogasa yelled as he turned to her._

_"No! Stop it right now!"_

_"I SAID OUT OF MY WAY!" Then… the unthinkable happened._

_*SLAP!*_

_Kurogasa slapped Louise on the cheek. Backhanded too; as she flew back a couple feet before falling on her back. Everyone gasped at this. Louise got back up as she held her slapped cheek looking at Kurogasa in fright. Kurogasa then gasped as if he snapped out of his temper. Then he realized what he had done. His reiatsu then died down and everyone was now able to get back up. Kurogasa looked at Louise for a while until he hung his head down with his hair covering his eyes. "I'm sorry…" He whispered shakily before running off. As Louise looked on, she could've sworn she saw tears coming out of his eyes as he ran._

_Julio coughed, getting his breath back, "It seems… I unintentionally struck a nerve."_

_*SMACK!*_

_Julio's cheek was turned bright red as Louise whipped around and slapped him just as hard as Kurogasa slapped her, "In place of the grievous mental harm you dealt my Familiar, I punish you in his place."_

* * *

_"Damn him!" Kurogasa cried out, bashing his fist against a wall in another era. His rage building up as he bashed his fist. "Damn you, Julio! Damn you!" Kurogasa swore. Fury and despair mixing uncontrollably in his heart, Kurogasa drove his fists into the wall again and again. His knuckles were soon bloodied, his hands on fire with pain, and still he lashed out. He kept pounding against the rock until his fury was spent, leaving him hollow and empty as he knelt on the ground. Tears of utter misery falling from his eyes. "Mom… Dad…" Kurogasa sobbed._

_"Kurogasa?" A voice asked. This almost startled him as he turned around to see Siesta behind him._

_"S–Siesta…" Kurogasa got out._

_"Are you okay?" Siesta asked concerned. She then noticed his bloodied hands. "Oh my gosh, what happened to your hands?!" Siesta gasped as she ran over to him and knelt down to examine them._

_"It's… complicated," Kurogasa muttered. "The spar with Julio turned… ugly."_

_"Spar?" Siesta asked confused. Kurogasa then explained what happened at the spar, the sword fight, Julio losing on purpose, Kurogasa losing his cool, causing him to slap Louise, running away, and then finally venting out on the wall. As she listened, she took off her apron, ripped into pieces and used the ripped pieces of the apron as a bandage to wrap it around Kurogasa's bloodied hands. Now, Siesta may have been called a simple country girl, but it didn't mean she was stupid. This event was bothering Kurogasa more than simply losing his control. Something in the battle hit deeply, and hurt him just as much. What had happened? "I see." Siesta said. "What… got you that way?"_

_"Julio, he… he said something. Something that made me remember something I want to forget…" He muttered._

_"What is it?"_

_"He said… 'It's your own fault for falling for it.' Those words… are the same words… of a man who murdered my parents in cold blood."_

_"Ah!" Siesta gasped. No wonder Kurogasa got so angry! Being reminded of such a horrible event would have gotten to anybody! "Kurogasa… I'm so sorry…"_

_"It's alright…"_

_"How… did it happen?" Siesta asked. Kurogasa was silent for a while; he didn't want to tell it. "I'm sorry… I shouldn't have asked…" _

_"No… it's okay." Kurogasa said softly. "I trust you… it started five years ago…" He began. "With me, my mom and dad, we were a happy family. As happy as it can be… until… he came. I didn't know his name. But I knew he was a serial killer and took my parents hostage in my house because he was on the run from the local authorities. He told me that if I wanted my parents alive, I'd have to steal a lot of money so he would have enough to escape my country… so I _did_…"_

_"You stole?!" Siesta gasped not believing this._

_"I didn't have a choice at the time, Siesta. It was either stealing the money for him or my parents die." Kurogasa continued. "So… I did it. I stole money with the local authorities chasing me along the way. I was soon caught and I had to explain to them. And they seemed to understand my situation. So cooperating with the local authorities, I got enough money and I went back to my house to give it to him, but before he took it… he… he… he killed my parents; right in front of my very own eyes…" _

* * *

_**Flashback – 5 years ago**_

"_**MOM! DAD!" Kurogasa yelled in horror as his parents dropped dead to the ground.**_

"_**HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!" The man laughed insanely. "You should see the look on your face! It's priceless!"**_

"_**You said you were going to let them go! You lied to me! You screwed with me!"**_

"_**It's your fault for falling for it. EYAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!"**_

_**End Flashback**_

* * *

_"After it happened, the local authorities were able to arrest him…" Kurogasa finished._

_"Oh Kurogasa…" Siesta said sadly. "I'm so sorry…"_

_"I thought I was going to save my parents, but… I didn't. And now, thanks to Julio, that memory resurfaced again." Kurogasa's eyes closed as they were now filling up with tears and chocked up a bit. "I couldn't save my parents… I…"_

_He then felt arms wrapped around him. He opened his eyes when he felt that Siesta brought his head to her chest, hugging him closely. "It's okay… It'll be alright…" She whispered soothingly to him. Kurogasa said nothing, as he continued to cry. He continued to cry for a long time, but Siesta still held him close, while she slowly and gently stroked his hair with her hand, doing her best to calm him down. Eventually, Kurogasa's tears stopped, his breathing was steady, and he was able to control himself._

_"Thanks…" Kurogasa breathed out, wiping his tears while Siesta still held him close. "I'm not really like this, but…"_

_"It's alright. You've been through a lot. You have every right to be like this." Siesta said softly. The two of them stayed like that for a while in comfortable silence until the silence broke._

_"Kurogasa!" A voice called. Kurogasa lifted his head from Siesta's chest and the two looked up to see Louise running towards them with Derf in tow. Louise stopped for a moment, seeing Siesta and Kurogasa so close to one another, but she quickly shrugged it off. Kurogasa was emotionally distraught so likely the first person who he felt comfortable with would hear of what happened and try to comfort him. She could be worried about someone trying to seduce him away later!_

_After she made he was okay and Kirche wasn't around._

_"Louise…" Kurogasa said as he and Siesta stood up._

_"I've been looking all over you." Louise said concerned. _

_"You okay Partner?" Derf asked._

_"Yeah… I'm fine now." Kurogasa muttered. "Louise, I… I'm sorry about slapping you. I shouldn't have taken out my anger at you."_

_"It's alright." Louise waved off._

_"It's just…" Kurogasa muttered, but was cut off when Louise… hugged him. Kurogasa was surprised at first, but nonetheless returned the hug. Siesta looked a bit miffed, but nonetheless allowed it._

_"As much as I appreciate you two making up, can I get a little breathing room here?" Derf managed to get out. Louise and Kurogasa noticed this and pulled apart as they laughed a bit._

_"Sorry Derf." Kurogasa chuckled a bit before he turned back to Louise._

_"Kurogasa, it's okay. Julio shouldn't have put you in that position in the first place."_

_"But… but he didn't know…"_

_"True, but he shouldn't have been so rude like he was." Louise retorted. "Agnès explained the etiquette of spars and such to me."_

_"I see." Kurogasa said then smiled a bit. "Thanks Louise."_

_"You're welcome. Now let's go. Michelle called for us to meet with King Wales and Queen Henrietta over at the Headmaster's Office."_

_"Alright." Kurogasa nodded. And with that the two went on their way. But before that he turned to Siesta. "I gotta get going Siesta. Thanks for listening to me."_

_Siesta smiled. "Of course. If you ever need someone to talk to I'll be happy to listen to you." _

_"Thanks." Kurogasa said and looked at Louise. "Let's go." Louise nodded and with that, the two went on their way._

* * *

Well, I feel kinda better right now, thanks to Louise and Siesta who cheered me up. As Louise and I with Derf in my sash, walked through the halls of the Academy, I was thinking about a lot of things. Like Julio for example. I wished Julio didn't have to have to do that to me; exposing my past like that. It was a memory I wanted to forget. A memory that I wished that was a nightmare and that I would wake up from it and that my parents would still be there. But… that was only a wish. What happened five years ago with my parents was real. I wanted to forget, but I can't, because it's the last thing I remember about my parents. Sure, there were other memories that were good, but this one… I just can't seem to get rid of this one. I can suppress it maybe, but for how long?

Louise and I soon arrived at the Headmaster's Office. When we opened the door, there was King Wales, Queen Henrietta, Agnès, and… Julio, who had his pretty boy face messed up by what I did. There was one other mark though, I never saw before. I figured it was probably Louise who slapped him. But still, I wanted to beat him up more for exposing my past. And I looked ready to go. I narrowed my eyes glaring at him in anger while walking to Wales and Henrietta before we stopped and turned my head to the latter with me not narrowing my eyes.

"Thank you for coming you two." Henrietta said with a smile.

"Think nothing of it Your Highness." Louise said and bowed towards them while Wales laughed.

"Louise, raise your head." Henrietta said. "I must personally thank you two for saving me from my kidnapper."

"It's nothing Your Highness." I waved off. "All that matters is that you're safe."

"Before we begin this meeting," Julio spoke up making everyone turn to him, with me glaring at him. "There's something I need to get out of the way." He then turned to me. "Kurogasa, I would like to sincerely apologize to you for exposing your past about your parents' death after our spar." Wales and Henrietta gasped at this. "I only wanted to see how strong you, a comrade were, since I was sent by the Pope of Romalia to help King Wales and Queen Henrietta in the war against Albion. But I assure you, it was _never_ my intention to have your past resurface."

"So you being a transferred student was a front?" I gasped, but then growled a bit. "Why didn't you say that in the first place?"

"For the sake of secrecy, lest the wrong kind of ears hear, the truth had to be concealed," Julio explained. "I happen to agree with His Holiness in this case."

"Smart man," I agreed. I still kind of felt bad about beating him as hard as I did though. "I'm sorry about the injuries I dealt you."

"I dare say I got off lightly," Julio smiled humbly. "Insulting your skill and unintentionally bringing out a painful memory as I did, I'm surprised I did not get hurt more."

"Just don't do that again." I warned. "If you ever do, it's going to be more than just ramming you to a wall choking the life out of you."

"I assure you that I won't do it again." Julio told me.

"Well now…" Wales said clearing his throat. "Now that that's out of the way, let's begin. As Julio said before, Julio was sent by the Pope of Romalia to aid us in the war against Albion. He's has been very worried about the recent actions my country has been doing over these past few months."

"The Pope and I have tried our best to prevent any outbreak of war." Henrietta added. "But the situation right now is a tough one. Louise, Kurogasa, Julio, and Agnès… you're the only ones I can depend on."

"Yes, Your Majesties." Louise said.

"So in other words, Their Majesties would like to gather her own men from the Academy?" I asked.

"What do you mean by that?" Louise asked incredulously looking at me in disbelief. "Are you going to bear a grudge against the King and Queen?!"

"Well, no… it's just…" I got out. "I'm just thinking about what Professor Colbert said."

"'Don't bring war into the Academy' eh?" Agnès scoffed.

"Kurogasa…" Henrietta said looking at me serious. "I assure you that Wales and I have no intentions of bringing war into the Academy. I'm just borrowing the strength of the people in order to bring peace. You _will_ be able to help us right?"

"I…" I got out. To be honest, I don't want to help. This war is foolish enough as it is. I'm not a person that goes off and kill people. That's not who I am. I don't even have it in me to actually _kill_ someone. Well, save for Arturo, I have to kill _him_ since he's an Arrancar and all, but other than that, I just don't have it in me to do that and have their blood stain my hands. I don't want to be like the man who killed my parents. But then again, it just can't be avoided. "Of course… like I said, I shall lend you my sword and add to your strength." I finally replied, but with a hint of hesitation in my voice. Henrietta and Wales nodded at this.

"I've also heard from Their Majesties about this… Arturo Plateado." Julio suddenly brought up. "His Holiness has sensed this… pure evil coming from here in Tristain. And Their Majesties confirmed it to be this Arturo person from what they told me." He then turned to me. "And they have told me that you have some extent knowledge about him. What do you know about him?"

"Well, first, you have to know about how they are to be." I said. "There are three stages to becoming an Arrancar. The first is to be a Gillian, who are also called Menos Grande. They are the first and weakest of all Menos. They would be considered foot soldiers."

"Like that one we saw at the Battle of Tarbes?" Louise gasped in realization. "That's only a foot soldier?!"

"Yep. There are many of them and they all look alike. Gillians are huge, but they are slow and have beast–like intellect. Any Captain Shinigami would be able to destroy them with ease. Gillians commonly attack in a group and one is powerful enough to be a challenge for a Lieutenant of the Gotei 13. Gillians typically arrive in the Human World through the use of spatial distortions." I then took a piece of paper and using the quill and dipping in an ink bottle I began drawing and everyone gathered around me. A couple minutes later, I finished the drawing.

"This is what they look like. They're at least 2–6 stories tall, a white mask with an elongated nose. Their bodies are covered from theirs head to their feet with a black covering reminiscent of a cloak. Around their neck is a row of thin white spikes. They have large, pointed feet wrapped in white bandages and have large white hands."

"That's… scary…" Louise gulped.

"Oh it's scarier when they reach the next step. To get to next step, though Gillians usually have no personality to speak of, one of the many Hollows that comprise it might gain control over the newly formed entity, reflected in the unique mask it wears in comparison to a normal Gillian. Only these Gillian variants have the potential to evolve into the next stage. The evolution is facilitated by the continued cannibalization of fellow Hollows, even other Gillians."

"They… eat each other?" Henrietta asked in disbelief.

"Yes. I've seen it happen before, and I can tell ya, it's pretty gruesome. But that's how they evolve. So when that happens, that Gillian evolves into an Adjuchas, the second stage of Menos. They are smaller than Gillians and far fewer in number. However, they're much smarter and stronger than Gillians. They're often the ones who lead Gillians into battle. Adjuchas are commonly solitary creatures rarely joining into groups. They are powerful enough to challenge a captain of the Gotei 13."

"So what is the third and final stage?" Julio asked.

"Well, to reach the final stage, the Adjuchas must continue to devour Hollows, or its mind will be absorbed by the other Hollows comprising its form and it will revert back into a Gillian. The subsequent lack of an individual will also preclude the reverted Gillian from becoming an Adjuchas again. Also, if any part of an Adjuchas is devoured, they permanently cease evolving and possibly stop them from regressing into a Gillian. But the final stage is the Vasto Lorde class. They are the third classification of Menos and the highest level of evolution. They are extremely small Hollows, roughly the same size as humans and are extremely rare in number. It is said that you could count their entire number within Hueco Mundo, a place where the Hollows live, with only the fingers of your hand. The Vasto Lordes' combat capabilities are above that of the captains of the Gotei 13."

"Like Arturo?" Louise asked.

"Yes. And to become an Arrancar, all you have to do, is remove part of your Hollow Mask, and voila, there you go, simple as that. But let's get to Arturo. As you know, Arturo is an Arrancar. A former vicious and malicious spirit that regained his sanity. He's very powerful and skilled in the art of combat. He possesses numerous abilities that make him a fierce combatant. He's power–hungry and arrogant, believing himself to be unstoppable and he likes to brag. His sword, like mine, holds a special ability. His allows him to drain the magical power of people he's killed and makes it grow stronger. His strongest abilities we have yet to see."

"He's _that_ strong?" Louise asked.

"Yes. That's why he able to take on Soul Society all by himself thousands of years back. In fact, when he first invaded, he wiped out half of the Gotei 13, and the scary part was, he wasn't even in full form and power."

"He can become even _stronger_?" asked Henrietta with a gasp.

"Yes," I nodded. "It's called Resurrección. By saying a command phrase along with the name of his sword and the right actions, Arturo can alter his form to incorporate the powers he had as a Hollow back into his new form. Unlike my Bankai which gives me armor and weapons, a Resurrección modifies an Arrancar's body to give it those powers. It makes beating an Arrancar that much more difficult." I shook my head. It didn't need to be said that if Arturo could kick my ass like he did without his full power, what would it be like if he decided to go all out?

"So what happened after?" Wales asked.

"Well, just when the Captains of the Gotei 13 at the time were about to kill him, he retreated. And centuries later, he was able to fully become an Arrancar. He then tried to invade Soul Society again, but this time they were ready. They had a weapon called the Shisui Mirror; a powerful item that robs the target of all their spiritual powers, however, the person using it has to have a special kind of reiatsu in order to use it. That person was Konoka Suzunami. However, even the _weapon_ came at a price. Which is the user of the Shisui Mirror being drained of his/her life. It was meant to be only used as a last resort."

"Where can we find this mirror?" asked Julio.

"Unfortunately, I don't know where the mirror is." Well, I had to say that, because it came from the DS game.

"So… was Arturo defeated when that Shisui Mirror was used?" Louise asked.

"Not exactly. Although, it _did _weaken him greatly, it wasn't enough to kill him because what happened was just when he was about to be killed, the mirror somehow sucked him up and two other Shinigami into another dimension called the Wandering Spirit World, a limbo of sort, a place where it exists outside the Spirit Cycle." Well, I had to leave out Seigen Suzunami because if I mentioned him there would be other questions and eventually I'd have to tell the entire 3rd Phantom storyline.

"Spirit Cycle?"

"I'll explain. When someone in Soul Society dies, their bodies are turned into the spiritual particles that make up the Soul Society. Their spirit however is reborn in the world of the living into another body. When that person dies in that body they are reborn in the same body in the Soul Society with no previous memories of the world of the living. The Wandering Spirit World exists _outside_ of that. A place that exists outside of time itself."

"So who were the two Shinigami that went with Arturo to the Wandering Spirit World?" Wales asked.

"They were fraternal twins. They were Fujimaru and Matsuri Kudo. Fujimaru the brother and Matsuri the sister."

"Hold on. You said something about Arturo being dead after Fujimaru and Matsuri dealt with them or something like that." Louise pointed out.

"I was about to get to that." I answered. "You see, about a century later after Arturo invaded the Soul Society a second time, Arturo and the Kudo twins somehow managed to get out of the Wandering Spirit World. It also brought another soul named Shiyo; who's been in the Wandering Spirit World longer than _them_. And to make long story short, Fujimaru and Matsuri were able to defeat Arturo thanks to Shiyo using the Shisui Mirror."

"But I thought Konoka was the only one to use the Shisui Mirror." Henrietta pointed out.

"That's true, but here's the rub. Konoka's soul somehow managed to enter the Wandering Spirit World as well. When she found Shiyo, she used Shiyo's body as a vessel for her soul. That's why Shiyo was able to use the Shisui Mirror."

"So then how come Arturo still alive now and why and how is he in this world?" Louise asked.

"Well, it's as he said. His blade has a side effect for absorbing so much spiritual energy. It can store vast quantities of it and heal him of wounds that he receives, even lethal ones if given enough time. It's one ability that _I_ haven't seen or even known about before." And it was true too. Arturo's abilities and Fénix's abilities were really vague on the Bleach Wikipedia. "And to answer the second part of that question, it's as he said, he himself doesn't even know. But _I_ do know this. He needs to be stopped and he needs to be stopped now before he destroys us all."

* * *

_Meanwhile…_

_In the Kingdom of Albion, at its castle, there stood many knights gathered in front of it. And on the balcony was the same woman who killed Cromwell. She was giving a speech to rally the Knights of Albion to fight against Tristain._

_"Everyone, first of all, I must announce some bad news to you: The Queen of Tristain, Henrietta, in order to suit her wedding with King Wales who is traitor to his own country, traitor to you, his people, and their Coronation, has gotten rid of Cromwell!" The crowd was in rage and anger. "In order to invade our Kingdom, with their hands soaked in blood, they have been busy recruiting their Army!"_

_As she gave her speech, the councilmen behind her looked on. "Sheffield, wasn't she just a secretary to Cromwell?" One councilmen asked. "Isn't she trying to restructure the government now? It's as if she's planning to become the new ruler now."_

_"But once this lady stands in front of you, there's no way that you can defy her." A second answered._

_"What kind of person is she?" A third wondered as she finished her speech with the crowd cheering because of her word._

_"LONG LIVE SHEFFIELD! LONG LIVE SHEFFIELD!" The crowd cheered. As they did, Sheffield smiled evilly. Things were going the way she wants it to be, thanks to the Ring of Andvari on her finger._

* * *

And there you have it people! My third chapter of this Shinigami of Zero sequel done! Whew! I never thought I'd write this much for a chapter. But anyways, again, sorry about not updating this in a while. So you FanFiction readers know what to do! Review, review, review!


	4. The Three Vallière Sisters

RRRRRAAAAAGGGGHHHHHHHHH! I hate writer's block! Especially when it comes to this story! I'm really sorry about not updating this thing! Gomenasai! Gomenasai! Gomenasai! Gomenasai! Hopefully this 4th chapter of Shinigami of Zero: Futatsuki no Shinigami will make up for that! Oh and thanks to Ten–Faced Paladin for helping me writing out this chapter! Again, gomenasai!

Disclaimer: I do not own Bleach & Familiar of Zero.

* * *

Chapter 4: The Three Vallière Sisters

_It was early and foggy in the morning, as two carriages came up to the entrance of Tristain Academy. One of the carriage doors opened up, and out came a woman in her late 20's with long blonde hair, wearing a white blouse and purple skirt and brown boots and wearing glasses. She obviously doesn't look very happy as she stomped on her way to her destination._

It's another day at Tristain Academy, and so far, there hasn't been anything recent going on lately besides yesterday. Yesterday really tired me out, both physically and mentally. Physically because of the training I've been doing and beating the crap out of Julio and mentally because of him exposing my past. But he apologized for it, so I guess I can forgive him. Right now, I'm just sleeping away on Louise's bed with her lying next to me. And no, we didn't do _that_. I'm not _that_ stupid. Our relationship is strictly platonic and sibling like. Nothing more, nothing less. But moving on, I finally get to sleep on her bed. The floor with the pile of straw was just really uncomfortable to sleep on. And as I said I'm just sleeping away and–

*KNOCK! KNOCK! KNOCK!*

Oh geez… who in their right mind is knocking on the door _this_ early in the morning? Groaning, I slowly got up and headed towards the door slowly.

*KNOCK! KNOCK! KNOCK!*

"I'm coming, I'm coming…" I groaned as I rubbed my eyes and opened the door. It was a woman I've never seen before. She was in her late 20's has long blonde hair, wearing a white blouse, purple skirt, brown boots, and glasses. She obviously doesn't look very happy. "Uh… can I help you ma'am?" I asked carefully.

"Move it commoner." The woman pushed me away causing me to stumble a little bit.

"Who the heck _are_ you?!" I demanded.

She continued to ignore me as she went over to Louise's sleeping form and started shaking her awake. "Louise! Little Louise! Wake up!" It took a couple seconds for Louise to wake up. As soon as she did, her eyes widened and screamed with surprise, sat up right, and backed away in fear.

"B–B–Big Sister Eleanor?!"

I'm sorry, did I hear that right!? Big sister?!

"What are you doing sleeping? Hurry up, we're leaving, I'm taking you home."

"EHHHHHHH?!" Louise cried out. "B–But–" Louise tried to say something only to have Eleanor cut her off.

"No buts about it; now hurry and pack!" After that, she walked out and closed the door.

"Uh… what just happened?" I blinked.

"I have no idea." Louise said. "This is the first time Big Sister Eleanor came to the Academy."

"That doesn't really help much." I sighed and deadpanned as I sweat dropped.

* * *

And so Louise and I were walked out of the Academy with Eleanor escorting us out and for some strange and unexplained reason, Eleanor brought along Siesta with us. Siesta and I were in one coach and Eleanor and Louise were in the coach right behind us. I wonder what those two are talking about. And why does Louise have to come back home? I mean I understand this war is crazy as it is, but this is a little sudden. But anyways, Siesta and I were sitting next to each other in the coach we were in. It was a comfortable ride and all, but it just felt really awkward for some reason. Maybe it's because of the silence during this whole trip. I need to break it now.

"Uh… it's kinda cramp in here." I said starting a conversation. "You okay Siesta?"

"Oh, I'm fine, thank you." Siesta said.

It was silent again for a good couple minutes. Seriously, this trip to Louise's home and this silence is really awkward. I mean Louise's big sister just took her, me, and Siesta to go to their house out of the blue for crying out loud! I needed to start up a conversation with Siesta again.

"Listen Siesta, I wanna thank you again for yesterday. I… really needed it."

"You're welcome. As I said before, if you ever need someone to talk to I'll be happy to listen to you." Siesta smiled.

"Thank you." I said while Siesta smiled at me. "It's just… been really hard for me every time I think about my parents. To see them… gone in an instant in front of your very own eyes…" I stopped there. I didn't want to say anything else. Damn it, I got over this yesterday, why am I going through it again today? I then noticed Siesta's hand touching mine. My eyes widened a bit as I looked at her still smiling.

"It's okay. I know it's been hard for you. But remember that you still have Lady Louise and the others to help you get through it. You got a family here that will support you all the way no matter what." Well, that _was_ true. Her, Louise, Kirche, Tabitha, Montmorency, heck even Guiche, Henrietta, Wales, Professor Colbert, Headmaster Osmond, Scarron, Jessica, and Maria. They're practically family.

"You're right Siesta." I smiled a bit at this.

* * *

Nightfall came, and the two coaches were crossing a bridge that was over a river. Barring the entrance was a very huge wooden door. The huge wooden doors opened and when I looked out of the window and my jaw hit the floor. "That's Louise's mansion!?" Her mansion was huge! I'd say it was about a third smaller than the Academy and probably the same size as Count Mott's estate. The coaches stopped at the entrance and we got off and our entire luggage was off as well. When we went inside, I dropped my jaws. The lighting of the place was golden like and there was a red carpet rolled out that led to the stairs. A line of maids were on my left side of the red carpets and a line of butlers were on my right.

"Welcome home, Lady Eleanor and Lady Louise." The maids and butlers greeted bowing. In front of us, I was practically looking at an older version of Louise. She had long pink like her, she wore a dress similar to Eleanor's and her face had a motherly like feeling to it.

"Little Louise, welcome home." The older pink haired girl said.

"Big Sister Cattleya!" Louise said happily as she ran over to her to give her a hug. "It's been a long time." She said burying her face in her chest.

Whoa, that's _also_ her sister? No _wonder_ I'm seeing an older version of Louise.

"Little Louise, let me see your face." Cattleya said softly. "My, you've gotten really pretty."

"How's your health?" Louise asked.

"It's still the same as always." Cattleya smiled. I could hear a saddened sigh coming from Louise. "Don't worry; it has always been like this." I raised my eyebrow a bit at this. Was she terminally ill? I mean just looking at her, she looks practically fine, but I guess she says otherwise; yet she still keeps smiling at Louise like there's nothing wrong with her. Bless her heart, that woman is tough. Maybe I could help somehow.

And so, it was dinner time and Louise, her sisters, and her mother who I had learned her name to be Karin. If you want to go by runic name, she was known as Karin the Heavy Wind. I've heard from Louise that she was a famous Manticore Knight back in her day. Looking at her face that had a sense of authority, I can see why. Anyways, she and her daughters were at the table eating. I was standing with the other servants and maids. It was… silent for most of the time. I heard my stomach growl and looked down. Man… I haven't eaten anything since I left the Academy. Well, that was because Eleanor had taken us to this mansion out of the blue.

"Um… Mother…" Louise said looking her.

"Mother!" Eleanor said cutting her off. "Please clearly tell Louise to quietly stay at home! She is a failure at the Magic Academy after all…" Okay, I'm starting not to like Eleanor. She's practically like any other person who would look down at her. Louise slammed her fist into the table getting up.

"I–I'm not what I used to be!" Louise said. "I'm being useful to the King and Queen! They said that my power is necessary."

"Your power?" Eleanor scoffed. "What can a zero like you do?!" Louise couldn't answer that. I clenched my fists at this. Who does think she is talking down to her little sister like that? "Mother, we should really hurry and make her a bride. How about the second son of Baron Albert?"

WHAT?! Getting married?! Dammit! She already had it bad with Wardes! She doesn't need this! I guess they weren't informed on what happened to her when we went to rescue Wales from Reconquista.

"Why does it have to be like that? You should get married before _me_!" Louise then pointed accusingly at her older sister. "Besides what happened to your engagement to the Count of Burgundy?"

"Louise, that's–" Cattleya got out. But it was too late. Eleanor suddenly got pissed off like it's that time of the month making Louise cower in fear.

"For you to speak to me in that manner, you've apparently have grown more arrogant! THE ENGAGEMENT'S BEEN CANCELLED! CANCELLED! OK?! YOU GOT A PROBLEM WITH THAT?!"

"Uh… Why?" Louise got out.

"I don't know… I have already reached my limit…" The maids and the servants all sweat dropped at this.

"Is she _always_ like this?" I whispered to one of the servants. He nodded silently. Well, that explains where Louise's pissed off mode came from. It came from Eleanor. At that point, a clap came from their mother who was surprisingly calm about this.

"Eleanor, Louise, we're in the middle of dinner." Karin said.

"But Mother!" Eleanor protested.

"We will discuss Louise's future tomorrow after your father returns home tomorrow." Karin said. I could see Louise clutching her dress in anger. She really doesn't like to be treated like this.

* * *

Later that night… I managed to get some grub before heading to bed which was in a basement of some sort and pile of hay as my bedding… again… Anyways, I was lying on my pile of hay thinking all the stuff that's been happened lately. Mainly about what happened at dinner. I was pretty peeved about it. "Damn it… This is ridiculous. Louise doesn't need all of this… And who does Eleanor think she is, talking down to her sister like that and talking about her getting married? She's already had it bad with Wardes." Derf wriggled up from his sheath.

"That's the thing about nobles." Derf said. "So long as you bear the family name, you must listen."

"I know, it just bugs me." I said.

"Well, that's how it goes around here," Derf sighed. "That Karin woman looks like one of those serious uptight nobles too. Like they're made of steel or something."

"Or have steel jammed up their butts," I snorted. "Still, she didn't even crack a smile or even say hello to Louise. Her youngest daughter who's been away at school for what, months, a year now and she doesn't say a word until she and Eleanor start making a spectacle. So… what, the appearance of the household is more important than her emotional ties to her own daughters?"

"I don't know what to tell you there other than that it's just how it goes." Derf sighed.

"Hmph. Whatever." I scoffed. "Well, at least Cattleya was kind enough to Louise."

Seeing her family life sort of made me regret what a jerk I was to Louise when we first met even if she did deserve it after how she treated me. Her classmates teased her and it looked like most of her family didn't have high hopes for her either. Pride seemed to be more important than affection. It served to remind me why so much of the current system of nobility was always making me want to grind my teeth. Why couldn't more nobles be friendlier like Guiche, Kirche, or Tabitha? Maybe the common folk wouldn't be so cheesed off at the way the world was if there weren't so many nobles living in la–la land.

"Louise doesn't deserve this. I need to have a talk with her." And with that, I set my destination to find Louise.

* * *

_In Cattleya's room, while her many pets were sleeping peacefully, Cattleya was brushing Louise's hair over at the vanity table with nothing but one candle lighting up the room. "Good grief, Big Sister Eleanor didn't have to make a scene like that." Louise huffed._

_"It's because she worries about you." Cattleya reasoned._

_"Could have fooled me," Louise huffed._

_"Now, now, Louise, you know both me and Eleanor care about you," Cattleya smiled. "We're just so worried about you out in the world because you're our little sister and you seem to have so much difficulty with magic. We thought a good husband would be a perfect way to keep you safe and cared for."_

_"Wardes… yeah, wonderful choice," Louise grumped, still feeling a sting of betrayal from her former betrothed who was now rotting in Hell… literally._

_*KNOCK KNOCK KNOCK*_

_"Huh? Who could be knocking at this hour?" Cattleya asked curiously as she stopped brushing Louise's hair and went over to her door and opened it to reveal Kurogasa. How he was able to find the room is anyone's guess._

_"Um… hi." Kurogasa greeted nervously. "Uh… Sorry to bother you at this hour, but is Louise there?"_

_"Oh, she's right here," Cattleya smiled, stepping aside to reveal the little pinkette._

_"Kurogasa? What is it?" Louise asked._

_"I need to talk with you. Alone." Kurogasa said. _

* * *

Louise looked to her older sister who nodded. Louise then stepped out of the room and into the hallway with Cattleya closing the door. "You're really not thinking of getting married are you? You've already had it bad with Wardes and now your family is doing this to you? You don't deserve this at all."

"I'd prefer not to, but once mother has a plan for us we can't exactly say no," Louise sighed. "She doesn't have much faith in me in anything else. Especially on my magic."

"Uh hellooo, you took down an Albion floating warship with your Void Magic."

"And the Queen making me swear not to tell on account of enemy spies which may report on it?" retorted Louise.

"Well, this is your family's house. I doubt there's any spy here that will you know about your Void Magic."

"A spy won't have to overhear," Louise sighed. "My mother will insist that I reveal it to Halkeginia."

"Huh?" I blinked. "And that would be bad? I mean, I understand with the war effort going on but after…"

"Mother is someone who believes in the rule of steel," Louise sighed. "Unbending, unmoving, and sharp as any blade could be in times of strife. If she finds out that I hold the Void, she will immediately begin trying to use it to further Vallière and Tristain policies and political clout. She is still the soldier she was when she met Father, never letting an opportunity to go by."

"So… she'll exploit your status as a Void mage as far as possible?" I frowned. "Never mind the fact that your loyalty is to Her Majesty, she'll use the base knowledge of your Void magic to curry favor in all of the Vallière activities. The fact that the Vallière family produced a Void mage would immediately bring the church to her side and with your personal connection to the Queen she'll try to have you stick close to her and maybe try and influence her decisions with the church backing you?"

"Well… more or less," Louise shrugged. "Mother is a very… straightforward person but very patriotic. Her opinions still carry a lot of weight but they clash with Henrietta's a lot. This war with Albion is probably one of the first things she hasn't complained about some of the monarchy's decisions in a long time."

"Basically she'll hop on it, push it as far as it can go before it breaks, take advantage of it as long as it can, all for what she believes would be best for Tristain and screw the other countries even if we're in the middle of a war and you only have the loosest understanding of your magic?" I frowned.

"Especially Germania," Louise sighed. "She hates the Zerbsts as much as Father does. A Zerbst woman was supposed to be her rival during the clashes between our families."

"Ooooh…" I cringed. "That _would_ be bad…" I was beginning to understand why Henrietta was so adamant about keeping Louise's magic a secret now. If word got out that she was a void mage then the fallout would be incredible in such an uncertain time. The political groups would be fighting tooth and nail to try and have her back up their plans, likely resorting to less than pleasant tricks to make it happen. The church would be all but ready to declare their own war to have her, likely putting pressure on her through her beliefs to make her see things their way. The other countries would begin to get nervous, likely start getting their own military might up, so not to look weak in the face of a Void Mage. Henrietta would be just as torn, her people wanting answers why she hid such a 'miracle' while others would petition her for Louise's attention. Worst case scenario would be some religious fanatics would try to have Henrietta thrown off the throne for Louise who was obviously Brimir's heir in Tristain despite Henrietta having the bloodline for it. And that was just the pleasant side of it.

"Ok, I get all that. But that aside, this whole marriage thing, I say don't do it. I don't care if you family punishes you for it. I'm not having you go through a marriage. You've already had it bad with Wardes and I'm not letting it happen again."

"Well, Father might agree with you," Louise offered. "He put a lot of faith in Wardes and finding out he was a traitor probably didn't sit well with him and with the war effort he probably won't make much of an effort when it comes to marriages. At least until the war's over. Eleanor won't let it go and I can never tell what Mother's thinking."

"Well, if they're still stubborn about it by tomorrow, then I'll fight your Mom _and_ Eleanor if I have to." Louise paled dramatically at my declaration. For a moment I was confused at what she was doing before I suddenly remembered, _'Oh yeah. Her mother's some kind of badass war hero.'_ "H–Hey, no worries, I'll win. What? You don't _think_ I'll win?" I asked rhetorically.

"I didn't say that." Louise huffed.

"But your face says otherwise."

"For good reason!" Louise snapped. "My mother was the leader of the Manticore Knights! Do you even know the kind of war record they had while she was in command? They've won pretty much every military medal in Tristain; my mother being presented with each of them herself!"

"So what if she got fancy medals? I'm very confident in my ability to win."

"You may and I stress _may_ have a slight advantage," Louise frowned, crossing her arms. From the look in her eyes, she honestly didn't believe that I had a chance in hell at winning. I had that look in my own eyes when one of my friends would take on a boss too big for them in RPG's. "But she has a brilliant tactical mind and she'll figure out a way to beat you quickly!"

"What's the worst she could throw at me?" I asked. "With Derflinger, anything she tries to cast at me I can just absorb and throw right back at her. You really need to trust me on this one Louise." I placed my hands on her shoulders. "Should I lose, you're gonna be stuck here to be a bride for some noble you don't want to be with instead of someone you love. And I… don't wanna lose you…" I trailed off.

"You… don't?" Louise blinked.

"We've been through too much to just be separated because some snob who sucked up enough to your parents said so. You're the Queen's personal agent now. Your parents are going to have to put up with that or move out of the country because defecting from the crown is likely the only way they could stop it from happening, knowing you. And… what I also meant about not losing you… I… I don't wanna lose you like I did with my parents… you're practically family, like a little sister to me."

"…Kurogasa…" Louise gasped.

"So tomorrow, you're going to stand your ground and not go through this whole marriage thing. If things get nasty, I'll be there to protect you. Can you do that?"

"Well… yes," Louise nodded. "I was trying to think of arguments to give my father so to let me go. Hopefully he'll feel like listening."

"Like I said, I'll protect you if things get nasty." I said.

* * *

The next day had come by, and Louise and her family were having lunch on the balcony that's on the second floor. Luckily, I was there to help with the serving and stuff. Anyways, I was on standby until…

"So Louise has returned?" A male's voice asked. I turned my head to see a man in his 50's with blonde hair that fell to just the bottom of his neck, a goatee, huge mustache, and a monocle on his left eye, wearing purple robes. That must be Duke Vallière, Louise's father. I have to say he is… a bit intimidating. Still, he looked a whole lot more agreeable than Karin did. So far I hadn't heard anyone say anything bad about the Valliere family, not the butlers, not the maids, not any of the staff or the people we saw on the way here. At the very least, unlike some nobles like Mott the Vallière's actually knew what they were doing when it came to the affairs of the country. The Duke hopefully would be able to see reason with Louise's request if she explained herself properly.

"Her arrival was late, wasn't it?" Karin said. "Did the military conference drag on?"

"Yes." The Duke nodded. "And I must leave again soon. What a difficult time in the world… we're at war, but dispatching the troops will agitate the people. The King and Queen are _really_ having problems."

"Father," Louise suddenly spoke standing up. "About that–"

"What do _you_ know?!" Her father snapped at her. Okay, this could get ugly. "Louise, you need to stop forcing yourself to learn magic. Just come back home and become a bride. I won't discuss it anymore!" He then turned away.

"Wait, father!" Louise called, but it was no use. He wasn't going to listen. Time for me to step in.

"Wait just a moment!" I called out. The Duke seemed to finally take notice of my presence. He looked at me and gave me a quick look from head to toe. Likely he didn't notice me before since I was wearing black and he unconsciously thought that I was a butler or something. "Don't you think you should hear your daughter out first?" I asked.

The Duke frowned slightly, but seemed to remember his manners, "Young man, while I love my daughter dearly she is still vastly inexperienced in the workings of the world and in this climate that's an incredibly dangerous thing. Were she able to use magic properly perhaps I would not be so concerned. As it is, with no way to defend herself I simply cannot allow her to carry on with her request."

Had to give the man credit, he was right. Still… "That's all well and good, but just foisting her off onto the next man simply because you think he's trustworthy isn't a well–thought out plan either. Wardes was one of the most respected Griffon Knights and no doubt had many families clamoring for his favor and yet in the end he betrayed all of Tristain."

The Duke heaved a sigh, his fist clenching. It seemed Louise was right, word of Wardes' sheer betrayal of Tristain had hit the man hard and no doubt he was aching for retribution for the crime even though Wardes was now facing his due in Hell at the hands of the Kushanadas. The Duke's reaction though was _nothing_ compared to Karin's though. She looked as calm as ever, but this… aura of anger burst out of her, which made the servants instinctively keep away and I think a plant was wilting because it was too close to her. Cattleya and Eleanor both seemed to find their feet rather interesting while Louise paled and looked like she wanted to hide behind me. In a sense, she kinda reminds me of Unohana, only stricter.

"Your point?" asked the Duke.

"My point sir is that with this kind of climate going on, it will be hard to trust certain nobles since there will no doubt be sympathizers to Reconquista's cause just like in Albion there will be sympathizers to ours," I explained. "With things as they are, and with your family being one of the most financially influential as well as politically powerful next to the crown, those sympathizers may try to use the fact that you're looking for a husband to your youngest as a chance to take advantage of that power for Reconquista. Wardes almost did were if not for my interference."

"Hmm… you do seem to have a good one at that, but regardless, my decision still stands. She is to stay home and become a bride." I don't believe this guy. This guy, even though he may not look like it, is just as stubborn as Louise! Well… she had to get it from _somewhere_ I suppose.

"F–Father," Louise spoke up. "I understand your concern. But please understand that when I said I wish to assist in the war effort, it was not to take place on the front lines. Her Majesty requested me to be her representative among the troops. I will not see battle nor will I be forced to live among the soldiers and commanders."

"It is still out of the question!" The Duke snapped.

"And besides, what can you do to help out the King and Queen?" Eleanor scoffed. "I doubt your magic can help them out because your magic is zero and it always will be."

Louise popped a vein at that. That's not good at all. That did it for her. Louise wasn't going to take it from her older sister anymore. Don't say it Louise! Whatever you do, don't say it! Don't–

"I HAVE THE POWER OF THE VOID!"

Damn it Louise!

WHAP!

I slapped my face in agitation, "Louise… we were supposed to keep that a _secret_ under her Majesty's orders?" Louise's face turned red in shame. I looked to the other members of the family who were just staring in complete utter shock. Although, I noticed that Cattleya wasn't affected by it for some reason. Could she have listened in on our conversation?

I almost found their reactions comical, what with the Duke and Eleanor's jaws gaping. Karin though, "Louise… this is hardly the time for jokes, much less ones as tasteless as that one."

Louise wilted slightly, but she didn't back down, "I–It's true! I do hold the power!"

"Ha!" Eleanor snapped. "If that were even true, you wouldn't be anywhere the failure in magic you are now! The Founder was genius in magic skill! You don't even come close!"

"It's true," I sighed. May as well make sure they got the whole message. "Louise has been proven to be a user of Void Magic. The reason she has been failing so much in conventional magic is because there's just too much magic for her to properly harness by normal means. Void Magic is extremely potent and hard to control. That's why her spells always explode. _If_ she had no talent then the results of her spells would be wild and sloppy and if she had no magic at all then nothing would happen. As it is, the explosions in every spell simply mean that she has too much power to harness normally."

"Oh Louise!" Cattleya beamed. "That's wonderful news!"

"D–D–D–Dear Founder!" The Duke gasped. My theory on Louise's explosions seemed to be quite plausible in his mind, but after so long of having a daughter most would consider a failure he may just be hoping for some explanation which didn't allude to his daughter being damaged. "C–Can it be true?"

"I–I have already mastered the Explosion and Dispel spells thanks to the Founder's Prayer Book and my Familiar, the Gandalfr," Louise nodded.

"And if you want _further_ proof…" I showed the Gandalfr runes on my hand.

"That's–" Karin began.

Eleanor began to gape, which didn't surprise me. Louise told me she was some kind of magical prodigy who worked on advancing spellcraft and part of that was to know where spells came from. If anyone knew about the Gandalfr runes, it would've been her. Karin likewise would have known, being the devout and strict person she was.

"And now that you know…" I said then drew Derflinger and got in front of Louise. "I'm going to have to ask you to step away from Louise."

"Kurogasa, what are you doing?" Louise demanded.

"What else? Protecting you. You said it yourself. If your mom found out, which she did, she will immediately begin trying to use it to further Vallière and Tristain policies and political clout. You _did_ say that."

"What?" Karin frowned. "Louise…" The youngest pinkette gulped audibly. Karin's gaze was piercing on her youngest daughter. The Duke and Louise's two sisters stepped away so to make sure that they didn't get caught in the crossfire. "You dare talk about your own mother like that?"

"W–W–W–Well… Her Majesty thought it prudent to keep this a s–s–s–secret," Louise stammered. "B–B –Because of the political climate, there would be too many p–p–p–people wanting t–t–to take advantage of the n–n–news. I–I–Infighting is the last thing we need at the cusp of war."

"Still… that is no excuse to be talking to your own mother like that." Karin frowned. "That's it. It's decided. You are definitely going to be a bride and you will not attend the Tristain Academy no more."

"So you would betray her Majesty's orders, turn your back on Tristain in its time of need?" I asked. This was going to turn painful, but it would take Karin's mind off Louise. "I guess that's how far the loyalty of Karin the Heavy Wind goes. If it becomes a gain for her then she's all for it but if it inconveniences her then the whole world can go to hell. Some war hero, betraying her country just because someone said something she didn't like. Some noble _you_ are."

"What did you say?!" Karin suddenly snapped. Everyone else present except me, Louise and her mom, scurried back into the house and looked on through the window. Including the Duke himself. If there's one thing he learned from marriage, it's to back off from your wife that's PMSing to the extreme. And I'd say that this qualifies.

"If you want me to take back what I said, then you'll have to beat me to do it!" I then stepped back a few and pointed my sword at her. "I, Kurogasa Kururugi, Familiar of Louise Francoise le Blanc de La Vallière, and Gandalfr, hereby challenge you, Karin the Heavy Wind to a duel to decide to Louise's fate!"

Were it possible, everyone in the room would have crapped a brick save for me and Karin. Frankly, Karin deserved the badmouthing I was giving her. The woman obviously was still trapped in the battlefield, unable to relate to anything except how to treat it as if she were in battle. She didn't treat her daughters with love or care, but with strict discipline as if they were recruits in her unit rather than her own flesh and blood. Karin was stuck in her Rules of Steel and rather than try and move on she was trying to trap everyone around her in those same rules that stripped portions of her humanity away.

"Hmph. Very well, you insignificant brat. Should you attain victory, Louise would be free to do what she pleases. However, should I attain victory, my decision stands."

"Fine by me."

* * *

The battle was to take place in the courtyard of the Vallière Mansion. Karin was on one side with her armor and weapons on as if she was still a Manticore Knight. I was on the other side of the courtyard with Derf at the ready. On the sidelines, the Duke and his daughters were watching. This isn't going to be just any duel. It's going to be an all–out war. Karin was pissed, and in a way rightfully so. She had a lot of pride in herself and as far as a warrior went rightly so. However, she let that pride and her warrior ways affect everything she did, being completely incapable of setting it aside nor did she really try to. She expected everyone to bend to her will simply because of her strength. I had challenged that and probably in the rudest way possible. I wouldn't apologize though. I meant every word.

"You will regret your words boy." Karin stated.

"I regret nothing but that no one stood up to your emotional bullying until now," I shot back.

"Arrogant fool…" Karin muttered. "By the time we're done here, I'll personally see to it that Louise's ties with the Academy and you will be severed permanently. Let's begin!"

"Let's…" I growled as I got in stance with Derf in hand and flared my reiatsu to a somewhat dangerous level.

To her credit, Karin didn't flinch but something in her stance changed when she witnessed my power. This wasn't something she had seen before and was now wary but wasn't letting it show that it was making her cautious. It reminded me of Byakuya Kuchiki in that regard. Still, at least Byakuya was able to show that he was more than just a mindless soldier who existed to follow orders from the higher powers after he met Ichigo and got his ass kicked, causing him to begin looking at himself. It showed when he utterly destroyed Zommari Rureaux for using his Amor to make Rukia hold her Zanpakutō to her own throat.

Still, unlike Byakuya, Karin had yet to learn that following orders and existing as steel were not the only facets of life that a person should focus on. With any luck, I would teach her that. I had my work cut out for me though.

_"Release the magic within! Derflinger!"_

Soon Derf's blade glowed blue and changed into the Soul Calibur sword and with that, I charged towards my opponent in front of me.

Karin simply waved her sword wand slightly before what looked like a tornado of wind cut through the air towards me. Positioning Derflinger, I let the spell strike his edge. The force staggered me slightly, but Arturo's strikes held much more force so I was able to keep going regardless. The tornado was split by Derflinger, but also he was absorbing the magic which allowed him to cut the tornado in the first place.

"Wind magic never fills me up! Nothing to it! I can do this all day!" Derflinger bragged.

"Don't get cocky…" Karin's eyes narrowed as she sent more tornadoes my way with the wave of her sword wand. I positioned Derf to block the tornadoes and absorb them again. And once that was done, I then used shunpo moving fast. And for the first time, Karin was actually surprised.

I appeared behind her, slashing wide at her unprotected back. A shameful thing I suppose but I played to win, especially when it came to the important battles. Karin twisted around; blocking the blow but it was a close thing. She had reacted quickly, likely used to people trying to take her back. Considering how close I got though and how her teeth were gritting, I was probably the closest anyone had ever come. A little bit more, and I just might do it. I then backed off and pointed Derf at her. "Majutsu Taihō!" I yelled sending balls of energy and magic at her. Karin lashed out with some kind of barrier of wind. My attack crashed into it, causing the wind to blow apart in all directions, consequently causing myself and Karin to skid backwards, our feet leaving trails in the ground. Karin's attack was likely a high–class wind spell, but my attack had been raw magic concentrated into an attack. She didn't get away unscathed, her armor now dirty and scratched but the proximity left me more than a little dusty as well.

"Hmph. For a commoner with strange powers, you're holding up well against me." Karin scoffed.

"I've faced things much scarier and more powerful than you," I retorted. "And I'm fighting for something I truly think is important. I won't fall here."

"Many have said that to me and none have found it true," Karin retorted, summoning another tornado around her sword and sent it towards me.

"Well I'm about to prove you wrong! Majutsu Shōgekiha!" I did a slashing motion and sent a shockwave of magic to counter the tornado. The two collided and an explosion occurred creating a huge dust cloud making the three sisters and the Duke cover themselves. When the dust cloud cleared Karin and I were trying to push each other back with our swords. "Why are you like this?" I asked, gritting my teeth. "Why is it you can't stop living in steel? Why can't you feel? Why can't you be a mother? Why bother getting married at all? You've never left the battlefield!"

"My Rule of Steel demands it! A razor edge and an unbreakable will!" Karin frowned. "In this world, one needs those to survive! My daughters will become strong and respected!"

"Your daughters can't even _look_ at you without becoming afraid!" I snapped. "You are no mother to them! You're a commanding officer! You treat them like your recruits, not like your flesh and blood! You have no idea what it means to be a parent! YOU ARE AN UTTER FAILURE AS A MOTHER _AND_ A WOMAN!"

Karin's eyes bulged at the accusation before she let out a harpy–like screech and the blast of wind that came next launched me several feet back. Skidding to a halt I growled at took another stance.

"You stand there and judge me?" Karin hissed. "I, who threw away my femininity when my country was in need? I, who killed hundreds of men in the name of protecting my people? I, who took a failing family and rescued it from nothing through my war efforts and achievements? Through my power and pedigree? YOU DARE LOOK DOWN AT ME?!" Karin launched a trio of tornadoes at me, forcing me to shunpo away while blocking one of them with Derflinger so to let him drink in more magic.

"Hey Partner, I think you found a chink in the armor!" Derflinger commented.

"No kidding," I grimaced.

Now, I was by no means a guy who could easily look at you in battle and learn your motivations like Ichigo could when he battled some of his opponents. But this was so obvious that even _I_ could see what was up. Karin's total break of her reserve was more than just the heat of battle, but an outright flame of passion. She despised being looked down upon and being told she was a failure eh? I think I was beginning to see the bigger picture here.

Landing on the ground, I stared down the panting woman. Maybe it was time to strike at the heart as much as the body like Ichigo did when he fought, "You came from nothing did you? A failing noble family."

Karin continued to scowl at me.

"Likely one which had no political ties or much money coming into them," I continued. "You had talent for magic, but if your family was failing then likely you weren't able to develop it as much as you could have early in life." I was guessing at this point, but Karin's deepening scowl was showing I was on the right track. "Likely you have no brothers else your family would've had better options. Instead they had you and they felt their only option was to marry you off to someone rich and connected to save themselves. Only you didn't want to, did you?"

The wind around Karin was picking up.

"Louise told me a bit of your story, being a Manticore Knight and all. You had talents in battle even if you only had some training in magic you had talent and ingenuity to use it in ways that would make it effective. So to save your family, you pretended to be a man and joined the military. You fought, bled, and battled for your country, becoming one of the most powerful warriors in Tristain. All the while you had to close up, make your rules of steel, and live them so you'd never be forced back into the same position of a simpering little girl who was considered nothing useful."

Karin began gritting her teeth. I was onto something.

"Only now you can't stop, even when your days of battle are over can you. You're afraid that if you do, you'll be forced to become a simple woman again. You'll not be Karin anymore but Duke Vallière's wife. Everyone would forget you, what you accomplished, what you stood for. You push the same ideals onto your daughters, wanting them to avoid the same fate you almost didn't, isn't that right? You push Eleanor to be a genius so she can advance magical knowledge, only now your rules of steel have turned her into such a shrew that _no_ man will want to marry her. Cattleya couldn't even handle the rules with her personality and now suffers from a sickly body and you more or less ignore her. And Louise suffers most of all because when she has difficulties you don't support her and instead try to abandon her by marrying her off to another. Even now when your daughters suffer from isolation, loneliness, and aspects of despair you can't turn off your rules because you fear being forced back into the position of that young girl who was considered useless."

"That was… beautiful Partner," Derflinger sniffled.

"And now, it's time that you know your place!" I yelled as I now flared my reiatsu to a really dangerous level making everyone present almost fall to their knees. "BANKAI!" A pillar of reiatsu shot up in the air as it surrounded me for a few seconds before it dispersed revealing me in my Bankai. Siegfried's armor on my arm, the white sleeveless haori with a cape on my waist covering the back of my legs, Derflinger in his large ice crystalline sword state. It was there. Everyone excluding Louise who's already seen my Bankai watched in awe and fear.

_"Derflinger Magicae Egredietur!"_

"I know mine. It is time you learn _yours_ commoner!" Karin shrieked unleashing what was likely the largest tornado out of all of the wind spells I'd seen her use. I didn't flinch at the attack and instead lifted Derflinger up. The crystalline sword took the blow head on absorbing the magic of the attack. I hadn't ever had the rest of my armor materialize on me so fast, but by the time Karin ended her attack I was donned from head to toe in my armor and ready to unleash it all on the woman in front of me.

"I–Impossible!" Karin said in shock.

"Not probable." I retorted.

Using Shunpo I dashed across the distance between us and slashed at her. Karin's reflexes managed to save her again, making me make a crater in the ground thanks to both the force I had swung Derflinger at as well as all the magic power I had stored up amplifying the blow. By now, she was really having a hard time trying to beat me. Granted, maybe going into Bankai mode may be a tad over the top, but I'll make an exception because Karin definitely needs a reality check. Karin attempted to throw another tornado at me, but thinking fast I managed to swing Derf and knock the sword wand out of her hand and then destroyed it. Then next thing that happened I had the edge of Derf dangerously close at Karin's throat with her in shock.

"You're finished…" I muttered coldly.

Okay, I had won with overwhelming power and the fact that Karin knew nothing about my abilities instead of actual skill but a win was a win in my mind.

"You…" Karin scowled.

"Don't make this more difficult than it is," I hissed. "As much as I dislike you, you're still Louise's mother. As much as you terrify her, she doesn't want to see you hurt." I then let down Derf and reverted back letting Derf go back to his sealed state and started to walk away, but then I stopped and looked over my shoulder. "A man once said this: 'Children are treasures. The greatest sin in this world is to _damage_ those treasures. (1)' You Karin are damaging those treasures, your own daughters, with your Rule of Steel, and as Louise's Familiar, I will protect her with my life from you damaging her any further." I then left her without another word to her contemplate what I said and met with Louise and her sisters and father.

* * *

When I met up with Louise and her sister and father, the latter three were just in shock and Louise was tearing up… smiling. She then ran towards me and gave me a hug which I returned. I gently pat her head with my hand, "You're free."

"Thank you…" Louise got out.

"Anything for my imouto." I smiled gently.

"Huh?" She asked looking at me.

"In my language, imouto means little sister." I explained.

"Oh…" Louise blushed looking away from me in embarrassment.

"So cute!" Cattleya beamed, not once captured by the mood of the battle.

"Young man." The Duke said as I turned to him. "In some ways I should express how impressed I am with you. You stood up to my wife, battled someone of her skill to defeat, all for the sake of allowing my youngest to follow her own way of life rather than anything that myself or my wife had wished for her. On the other hand I'm a little upset that you _did_ hurt my wife even though it was a duel."

"I know and I apologize for any physical or mental harm I've done to her, mainly mentally, but it's what she needed."

"Karin can be… difficult," the Duke agreed. "She has so much difficulty showing that she cares. Still, I know she's capable of it since I saw it when she was defending Vallière territory when I met her. How she raced to the aid of any of her men that were in trouble showed that she was capable of compassion. Maybe if faced with her failings instead of her successes, she can begin to realize it is alright to show that you care about something."

"That I can agree on." I said.

Karin's footsteps approached us, the woman trying to regain her composure even though I had shattered it easily enough beforehand. "It seems you've won," She commented. "By the terms of our deal Louise may proceed with her plans. I must request that you do not show your face in Vallière territory for some time after you leave. You have… vexed me and I am not likely to calm down for some time."

"Of course."

* * *

As the sun set, Louise and I having said our goodbyes to the Vallière family were riding away in a carriage with Siesta on the reins.

"Kurogasa?" Louise spoke.

"Yeah?" I asked.

"You really think of me as your little sister?"

"Of course, imouto." I smiled making her blush again. "I told you before, you're practically family. And as your familiar and Onii–chan, I will protect my imouto from any harm."

"Onii–chan?" Louise asked.

"It means big brother in my language." I explained.

"Oh…" Louise blushed again.

"And don't be afraid to call me that, at least when it's just the two of us okay?"

"I can… call you that?"

"Yeah, I don't mind. But only when it's just the two of us, promise?" I asked holding out my pinky finger. Louise was a bit hesitant because of the embarrassment of calling me that or me calling her imouto, but nonetheless she wrapped her pinky around mine and smiled.

"I promise… Onii–chan."

* * *

FINALLY! I'm done! Aww man… I thought I've never get it done. Again, I'm terribly sorry that I wasn't able to update these past two months. I really, really, really, really, really, sorry about that! (T_T) So anyways, go ahead and review! Onegai shimasu!

(1) – Can anyone guess where that quote came from?


	5. The Spy's Seal

Alright, hopefully I'm gonna be on a roll with the Shinigami of Zero sequel. And this is gonna be a short chapter too. I really don't have much to go on this chapter, not to mention I did all of this in one day, well, two technically, or wait, in a few days, but that's beside the point. The point is, whatcha see is what you get. So let's get on with it. Oh, and thanks to Ten–Faced Paladin for helping out.

Disclaimer: I do not own Bleach & Familiar of Zero.

* * *

Chapter 5: The Spy's Seal

Another month went by since visiting the Vallière family and my duel with Karin. I've heard from Louise from a letter sent by her sister Cattleya that Karin had seemed to calm down for the most part, but was still vexed because I practically humiliated her in our duel. I'll be honest, all–in–all, I'm a really nice guy and I really don't speak ill of people, but when it came to people like Karin, I… I don't know, it gets… complicated, to put it lightly. I hope, no I _pray_ that Louise's mother would realize the error of her ways and _change_ those ways. Hopefully, it'll be soon. Right now, all the girls of the Academy were training as usual with Michelle and other members of the Fire Arms Squadron were supervising it while Julio and I were sparring using wooden swords.

"HAH!"

I began to swing with the wooden sword while Julio kept blocking the attacks. The attacks continued to go on for quite a while as I slashed and stabbed where as he parried, blocked, and dodge all the while.

"C'mon Partner you can do it!" Derf cheered from the sidelines. He was leaning against a wall not too far from Julio and I. Now it was Julio's turn to start going on the offensive and started to slash at me while I blocked.

The battle continued on as Julio and I continued to clash their wooden swords against each other. The wooden blades met and crashed against one another. We clashed again as I swiped at Julio with his sword but he ducked and skidded backwards. And once again we clashed and both our wooden swords stayed there as we stared each other down.

"You're really good. Although, you're still a bit aggressive than usual." Julio stated. "Are you still mad at me for what happened last time we clashed?" He asked rhetorically.

"Nah, that's water under the bridge now." I said shaking my head and smirked. "Now that I know you're not taking advantage of the battle dirtily, we're just seeing who the better swordsman is."

"Is that right?" Julio smirked back. "Well, in that case…" We both backed off charged towards each other and then…

*SLASH!*

We appeared on the opposite side of each other. Standing still after our final strike and then…

*THUMP!*

Julio fell on one knee as he dropped his wooden sword. I turned around and walked up to Julio. "Looks like I'm the better swordsman today." I grinned as I held out my hand. Julio accepted it and I pulled him up.

"Yes, you win this one, but the next time, I'll win that one." Julio smirked.

"We'll see about that." I smirked back.

"Everyone stop!" I heard Michelle. Julio and I looked towards to where the girls were training and they look like they were about to keel over. But thankfully, they were able to stop and take a breather when Michelle told them to stop because Agnès showed up.

"With regards to everyone's request…" Agnès began. "Today's lesson will teach you how to use magic effectively on the battlefield. For that, we've engaged in our special guest from Oriz Magic Academy to guide us long. Soon Agnès stepped aside for the guest to show up and it was…

"Big Sister/Eleanor?!" Louise and I cried out in shock. What the heck is_ she_ doing here in Tristain Academy?!

"I am Eleanor Albertine Le Blanc de La Blois de La Vallière." She greeted. "Though we just got to know each other, I hope we have a fun learning time together. Right?" She asked with a smile. I felt a really a really cold chill down my spine from the way she was smiling.

"That's Louise's big sister?" Julio asked me. "She seems to be kind and gentle."

"That's where you're wrong Julio. That's where you're wrong…" I shuddered.

* * *

Later on that day, Louise and Eleanor were having a talk with each other in a room where Eleanor will be staying with me leaning my back on the doorway looking on. Outside the doorway and inside the bedroom, there were numerous luggage and crates of wooden boxes which apparently is all of her stuff.

"Didn't I tell you? His and Her Majesty, King Wales and Queen Henrietta, made a request to the Magic Academy for me to be transferred here.

"His and Her Majesty did?" Louise blinked. Well, that answered _one_ question.

Louise did tell me that Eleanor was some kind of genius when it came to magical theory. She was constantly researching new forms of magic as well as new applications for magic that already existed. I suppose that as far as teachers for use of magic in real world applications went there could be worse ones. Although, knowing Eleanor personally I feared for the safety of the students when they showed they likely didn't have the same level of ability she did.

In my experience, geniuses made poor teachers. They tended to treat their students as if they were geniuses like them and gave them less instruction than they would actually need and expect them to do just as well as they would have in their shoes. I prayed Eleanor had at least that much patience when it came to teaching because she didn't seem to have any when it came to Louise, thus the massive cheek pinching I had been witness to since meeting her.

"Yes, they personally told me." Eleanor said. "After all, you are the King and Queen's agent and a user of Void. So I might as well help you learn to use it properly. And this is a great chance anyway. I'll be observing your every movement here to ensure you don't go astray with pests here, right?" She said glaring at me. What the heck is she glaring at _me_ for? If it's for humiliating her mother, then yeah, I'd understand, but I'm not some pest.

"Arf! Arf!"

I then noticed two small dogs coming over to Louise for some reason. What are they doing here? "Louise." A girl's voice said. I turned around and to mine and Louise's surprise…

"Cattleya?" I asked.

"Big Sister Cattleya!" Louise beamed. I blinked again. Okay… I could get Eleanor coming but Cattleya too? I mean, sure it was nice to see her more than the eldest of the three by a long shot but what reason besides a short visit could she have for coming?

"You're here at the Academy too?" Louise asked.

"Mm–hmm. I'll be helping out Eleanor out with the teaching." Cattleya smiled.

"You should've just stayed home with that weak body of yours." Eleanor scoffed. Oh yeah, that reminds me, I still have to know about Cattleya's illness.

"'No matter what, I want to be with Louise', is what she said, so…"

"I'm so happy!" Louise beamed at her second oldest sister. "I'm full of confidence now that you're here Big Sister Cattleya." It was then and there that Eleanor pinched both of her cheeks.

"You should say "Both of your sisters" right? Both of your sisters." Eleanor scowled.

"That's right…" Louise managed to mumble out from her mouth being wide open because of the pinching.

Oh geez, I'll never understand Eleanor. Oh! Right, Cattleya. "Uh… Miss Cattleya, I was wondering if I could help you somehow with your illness." I said turning to her.

"Oh?" Cattleya blinked. "Oh my, that's a nice thing to say Mr. Familiar but you shouldn't have to go through the trouble. The best water mages in the country have put all their efforts into my care. I'm quite content as I am."

Basically, the politest way I heard someone say 'I'm a lost cause. Please don't bother'.

"No, please I wanna help." I politely insisted. "Let me put away all of this luggage first you and sister brought and I'll get back to you." I said.

* * *

Night fell, and I finally managed to put all of Eleanor's stuff away. She practically brought her entire room with her. It took a while, but I managed to get it done. Right now, I was walking in the hallways of the Academy until I came to Cattleya's room. I knocked on the door.

*KNOCK KNOCK KNOCK*

The door opened and indeed it was Cattleya that answered it. "Well, hello there Mr. Familiar." She greeted.

"Please, call me Kurogasa." I said politely. "May I?"

"Of course." Cattleya said as she moved to the side so she can let me in. I went inside and we both sat down on the bed.

"So… Cattleya, can you tell me when you first had this illness and what symptoms you've been having?" I asked.

"Oh… well, I have been having this illness for quite a while." Cattleya recalled. "I cough out yellow water, my breathing is short, and sometimes I would have a fever every now and then, and for some reason the Water Mages can't heal it."

"Hmmmmm…" I pondered. Coughing out yellow water, most likely phlegm, shortness of breath, and fever. I then realized what she had. It was a chest cold. You've gotta be kidding me. The illness she had was a chest cold and Water Mages can't even cure it? What kind of nonsense _is_ this?! That could be easily cured, well… in _my_ world it could. But I guess that they didn't know about something like this here in Tristain.

I wasn't much of a doctor, but I could guess that if Cattleya kept getting chest colds then either her immune system just wasn't up to snuff or she was constantly exposing herself to something that kept making her sick. Sleeping with so many animals could've had something to do with it, but I kind of had my doubts. Still, I could cure the chest cold with my Kidō but her immune system might need some help. Maybe a different Kidō to boost her body? It made me wish Unohana or even Urahara was with me.

"Okay, I think I can help with the illness." I said.

"Can you?"

"Yep. Just leave it to me." I said. I then placed my hands in front of her chest, of course not actually touching her chest or Louise will kill me and then said, "Kei–"

*BOOM!*

"Huh?!" I got out as I noticed the explosion.

"What was that?" Cattleya wondered.

"I don't know, but it came from the upper floors. Most likely the Principal's Office. Let's go." I said then being the gentleman I was, escorted Cattleya out of her room.

* * *

We managed to get up to the Principal Office and there, the Fire Arms Squadron, Osmond, Colbert, some of the female students, and Louise were there. "Hey, what happened?" I asked. Professor Colbert was the first to notice me.

"Oh, I just got here too." Professor Colbert answered. I looked to see what was going on and there was a rather large hole in the wall that showed the Principal's office. Just what on earth happened?

"Little Louise," Cattleya frowned turning to her little sister. "Did you have an accident again?"

"N–No, It wasn't me." Louise answered. "I was elsewhere."

"In any case, it seems like a thief tried to break into the Principal's Office." Colbert said.

Osmond, Agnès, and her lieutenant Michelle, turned to the crowd. "It's nothing actually, just an accident here." Osmond said.

"Please return to your rooms. This will be investigated by the Firearms Squadron." Agnès said. The group of girls and Professor Colbert excluding Louise and Cattleya left. "Kurogasa, I may need your help on this. Louise and Ms. Cattleya, can you please return to your rooms?" She requested.

"Of course." Cattleya said. "C'mon Louise, let us go."

"O–Okay." Louise answered and the sisters left leaving me. I went into the hole into Osmond's office and the Agnes, Michelle, Osmond, and Julio were there.

"Okay, what exactly happened here?" I asked.

"Well, the thief broke into the exchequer when I wasn't around, but my Familiar saw it and told me about it." Osmond said gesturing to his mouse. "The thief wore a purple cloak and a white mask so I wasn't able to identify who it is other than it was a female, but I managed to imprint her using magical stamp." He then picked up that stamp off the floor. "Once someone is imprinted with this stamp, not even a _Triangle_ Mage can get it off."

"So what was stolen?"

"The Wind and Water Rubies." Osmond answered.

"WHAT?!" I got out. "Why are they here?! Shouldn't it be with King Wales and Queen Henrietta?!"

"Calm down, fortunately, what the thief stole were imitations."

"Imitations?" Michelle asked who was… rather surprised for some strange reason.

"Okay… so… why steal them?" I asked. "I mean, aside from being symbols of the Tristain and Albion royalty, can they be used for anything else?"

"Well, from what we know now, traces of someone escaping from or entering the Academy can't be found." Agnès said. "Which means…?"

"We have a spy in our midst." Julio said.

"WHAT?!" I gawked.

Oh this was just great! With how much secret activity was going on around in the school these days any spies were in for a huge amount of secrets. I mean, Julio was an agent from Romalia showing where their allegiances lie, Agnès was training raw magical recruits for the war effort, the three daughters of the Vallière family were all in one place, and Louise was a Void Mage! Never mind the numerous items of powerful potential in the vault in the castle!

"That's exactly the case." Agnes said.

"But wait, hold on, so then why did you ask Louise and Cattleya to go back to their rooms?" I asked.

"The culprit uses Earth Magic." Julio said. "In other words, every mage is a prime suspect."

"That's a load of crap!" I suddenly snapped. "Louise would _never_ do anything like this!"

"We're not suspecting Louise." Agnès said. However, we _do_ suspect Louise's two sisters that came to the Academy." My eyes widened at this. Louise did say something about Cattleya being an Earth Mage… but that would mean… no… she would _never_ do that… she's far too kind.

Maybe I could do something to prove her innocence, "You are aware that Cattleya is suffering from illness and has so for years, right? It's a kind of illness that can bring up shortness of breath and cause one to cough up substances. Stress doesn't exactly do one any favors when it comes to this illness either. If this crime happened recently, she would've shown signs the stress affecting her body. Besides, I was with her in her room talking to her when the explosion sounded off."

"Maybe so…" Agnès said. "But we'll do this investigation just to be sure. You can't be too careful. Chesaré and I will investigate the girls, Michelle and Kurogasa, you investigate the teaching staff."

"Uh… o…k…" I got out.

"And, one more thing," Osmond began. "The thief's imprint is on her chest when I threw the stamp at her. So be sure to look for that."

He what?! I then went to the old man and bopped him on the head. "You crazy old man! You realize you put me in a precarious position?! I can't just look at a girl's chest and see if there's a mark!"

Osmond blinked at me as if I were crazy, "Why ever not? Young men do it all the time don't they? I've just given you an excuse to do it."

I bopped him over the head again, "This is why women keep beating you up you perv!" Sighing, I grumbled a curse under my breath before continuing. "Fine, As much as I don't want to, I'll do it. But let me talk to Louise first. Since she's not suspected of anything like you said, I'll let her know what's going on."

* * *

After the meeting, I went down to Louise's room and entered.

"So what happened?" Louise asked.

"Apparently, we have a spy in the school."

"WHAT?!" Louise cried out in shock.

"As far as we know, the thief tried to make off with the Rubies of the King and Queen," I explained. "All we know is that the thief is female and has Earth magic on their side. Fortunately, Osmond managed to tag her in the chest with a magic stamp that not even a Triangle Mage can remove. The problem is that with all of the female mages in the school who can use Earth magic, it won't be an easy search. Worse yet, Agnès suspects Cattleya."

"C–Cattleya will never do such a thing!" Louise protested. "She would never…"

"Calm down, Louise." I said putting my hands on her shoulders. "I highly doubt your sister did it. She's far too kind to do something like this." I sighed and sat down in front of Louise so I could keep her attention and not cause her temper to flare, "But the timing doesn't long good to Agnès who doesn't know Cattleya like we do and in my opinion would never trust a mage even if her life depended on it. I guess she's seen one too many nobles abusing their power or something," I shook my head. I was getting off topic. "But the point is that Cattleya, an earth mage, arrived at the school the same day that the theft happened. Of course Agnès is going to be suspicious."

"But… how can we prove that she's innocent?" Louise asked.

"Well…"

*BOOM!*

"What the–!" I got out.

"It came from Cattleya's room!" Louise said as he ran out of the room to her sister's room.

"Louise, wait!" I cried out following her.

* * *

I followed her to Cattleya's room and there was smoke and dust filling the room, when it cleared, there was a hole near her bed and Cattleya was sitting on her bed coughing.

"Are you okay?" Louise asked her big sister worriedly.

"I'm fine Louise." She assured her little sister.

"Make way!" Agnès voice said as she came in with the crowd watching. Michelle came in as well. "Sorry for being rude." The Captain said as she examined her chest, but there was no mark. "It's just a burn. Nothing serious. Can you heal her?" She asked turning to me.

"Yeah, I can do it." I nodded. She nodded back in response.

"Michelle, please disperse the crowd." Agnès said.

"Y–Yes." Michelle said. So while she was doing that, I used to Keikatsu to heal the burn on her chest. It didn't take long for me to do that. By the time I was done, Julio and Eleanor came by as well.

"Thank you, Kurogasa." Cattleya thanked.

"It's no problem." I said.

"So what happened here?" Agnès asked.

"The thief attacked me." Cattleya said. "The animals were getting noisy, so I asked who it was and then…"

"The burn on your chest?"

"Part of the candle holder was melted and the melted silver was dripped on me."

"Alchemy… that's Earth magic." Louise said.

"You're capable of doing such magic yourself too right?" Agnès asked again.

"Yes."

"It's a self–acted crime eh?" Julio asked.

"What?!" Louise snapped.

"Hold on, Julio, let's not jump to conclusions already." I growled.

"The culprit from the Principal's office should have an imprint on her chest. Based on this clue, the perpetrator is somewhere in this Academy. And Miss Cattleya, she who knows she will be under investigation sooner or later… Thus pretending she was hurt. To mislead others to think that the culprit isn't her but someone else. Thus she feint injury to cover up the imprint. Isn't that right?"

"I don't believe it!" Louise said shaking her head. "There's no way Big Sister Cattleya would do this and assault the Principal! And neither does Kurogasa!"

"That's right! Cattleya will never do something like this. She's far too kind! Julio, what about the other Earth mages?" I asked.

"I completed my investigation on the girls and it's not them." Julio said.

"Captain, I found these under the straw mat." Michelle said as she held up…

"The Wind and Water Rubies?!" I gawked.

"That's right, it's the imitations." Michelle answered. Agnès took the jewel and looked at them and nodded to her lieutenant.

"Miss Cattleya, do you admit it now?" Agnès asked.

"No… I mean…" Cattleya began.

"We have proof!" Michelle snapped.

"Then you must have got it wrong somewhere."

"Oh good grief…" Eleanor sighed walking up to the group. "Everyone, be quiet."

"But Big Sister Eleanor–" Louise argued.

"I said be quiet!" Eleanor snapped making her little sister stay that way. "Now then, I found this melted silver from the candle holder and it has solidified. This is a strain of hair from either Cattleya or the culprit." She said holding it up. If one looked closely, there _was_ a single strand of hair. "And it doesn't look like its Cattleya's."

"What makes you think so?" Michelle demanded.

"A friend of mine from the Academy gave me this potion." Eleanor said as he dropped a droplet of it on the hair and it glowed, floating up in the air. "It will go back to where it came from." And that it did, the strain of hair floated for a while and then shot straight back it to… Michelle?! My eyes widened in shock. It was Michelle this whole the time and she was right under our noses?! She was looking shocked and distressed.

"I–Impossible!" Michelle denied. "You intend to mislead us with your stupid magic of yours and make me the scapegoat?! Captain! This woman is her accomplice! Have her arrested!"

"Hmph. But to prevent any misunderstanding that we are biased… Michelle, I'm sorry, but I'm going to have to ask you to expose your chest to show proof that there's no imprint."

"W–What?"

"That's an order Michelle."

"I–I won't do such a disgraceful order." She refused.

"Michelle, Principal Osmond knew that the culprit was among us, thus he told a lie. These rings here," Agnès said holding them up. ", are not an imitation. They are the real thing."

"EH?!" Michelle gasped.

"Why sound so surprised?" Julio chuckled and smirked.

"Knowing they're imitations, trying so hard to steal them… and make use of Miss Cattleya of becoming a scapegoat, that's foolish indeed."

"Captain, I'm not the thief!" Michelle argued. "I'll prove it! I'll show that I'm not the thief!" Michelle then ripped a part of her uniform to expose and… the mark was there! It _was_ Michelle!

Agnès gasped at seeing this. "Too slow!" Michelle yelled as she quickly drew her sword and was about to bring it down on her with Agnès having no time to react.

"No you don't! _Bakudo # 61: Rikujōkōrō_!" I shouted. With a wave of my fingers, six bars of light appeared in thin air and attached to Michelle's waist. She couldn't move.

"Damn it… I can't move!" Michelle gritted.

"That's the point." I retorted. My Kidō Rikujōkōrō prevents you from moving it all thanks to these six bars of light attached to your waist. So you're not going anywhere any time soon."

"I suspected you from the very beginning." Agnès began. "I always admired you for your work ethics and though your background remains unknown, as fellow swordsman, I trusted you. But with things happening over and over again including if the culprit while in the palace is the same person, I realized the fellow might be someone by me side."

"Geez… you could've said something earlier." I sighed.

"Well, it's come to a conclusion, eh?" Eleanor said. "Cattleya, come and sleep in my room. You won't be able to sleep here in this room after what happened."

"Thank you." Cattleya said.

"And Louise, you better get to bed too. This isn't a place for kids like you."

"Uh… ok…" Louise got out.

Well, I'm glad that's finally over and dealt with it. Hopefully Agnès will get some answers out of her as to why she did what she did. But for now, I'm gonna go back to the room and get some sleep. It's almost morning and I really need it. Oh right, I still had to deal with curing Cattleya.

"Um, sorry about not being able to cure your illness tonight Cattleya." I apologized.

"Oh, don't worry about it. It's perfectly fine." Cattleya assured me.

"Wait, you can cure Cattleya's illness?" Eleanor asked a bit shocked.

"Really?" Louise gasped as well.

"Yeah, I can. But I'll do that first thing tomorrow morning. I really need some sleep now. You don't mind do you, Cattleya?"

"Of course not." She smiled.

"Thank you for understanding." I bowed. "I'll see you then." I said and then left for Louise's room with Louise following.

* * *

Alright there you go. Yes, I know it was a short chapter and all, but hey, like I said, I don't have much to go on for this chapter, and I got it done. Anyways, go ahead and review… hopefully, during my Thanksgiving break, I'll get to more of this story.


	6. The Queen's Vacation

Okay, it's time for Chapter 6 of Shinigami of Zero: Futatsuki no Shinigami! Hopefully, this chapter will be a lot longer than the last one. But I think I'm gonna have fun writing this one out. Oh, and thanks to Ten–Faced Paladin for helping out.

Disclaimer: I do not own Bleach & Shinigami of Zero

* * *

Chapter 6: The Queen's Vacation

The next day, I got up early in the morning and do what I promised to do. And that was to heal Cattleya of her illness. But first, I have to do something about Cattleya's immune system. So I woke up early in the morning and went to Professor Colbert and asked if he could help me in making some Vitamin C tablets which is very good for boosting up the immune system. It took some time for Professor Colbert to understand the concept of what Vitamin C does, but I managed to explain it in his terms… somehow. He and I worked on making Vitamin C tablets and after a while, we managed to make about 100 tablets or so and placed them in a bottle.

"Thanks for helping me make the Vitamin C tablets Professor Colbert. I'm sure Cattleya will be better in no time with this stuff." I thanked.

"Oh it's no trouble," Colbert smiled. "Truthfully this is an interesting set of concepts that you've brought up in human health. To think that certain kinds of foods provide the different sources of nutrition that the body needs to remain functioning. And you said Miss Cattleya was suffering from a deficiency and thus why her illness remained?"

"Chest colds are what we call them," I answered. "It's just an infection like a regular cold. Give it time and the body can fight it off. The problem was with Cattleya was that her immune system, how her body fights off diseases and sickness, wasn't getting enough fuel to do what it needed to do. Her strict diet as a noble likely doesn't have the vitamins she needed. Although, her sheltered life is probably what kept her from contracting something worse, being exposed to so little of the world."

"Ah yes," Colbert nodded, easily seeing my logic. "The commoners as a whole do get sick much more often than the nobility does. A sheltered lifestyle is at least enough to do something good in that regard."

"Well, I better get this to the Cattleya. Thanks again." I said and then ran off.

* * *

I soon went to Cattleya's room and found the Valliere sister in her room. "Hello there, Kurogasa." Cattleya greeted.

"Hi. Sorry I took a while, but I'm ready." I said.

"Do you really think you can cure Cattleya's illness?" Eleanor asked who was a bit skeptic.

"If everything I've noticed is right, yes," I nodded. "Part of Cattleya's problem is that her immune system isn't strong enough to defend her from illnesses."

"Immune system?" asked Louise.

"The processes the body undergoes to defeat illnesses, sort of like when someone has a cold they gain a fever," I explained. "The body is heating up to try and kill the germs that are affecting the body."

"So… my 'immune system' is weak? That's why I stay so sick?" asked Cattleya.

"Yeah. It's common enough back home," I nodded. "And it's treatable too. The problem is that no one in Tristain would have an idea what the heck was going on."

"Then how do you cure it?" asked Eleanor, crossing her arms.

"These," I replied, holding up the bottle of pills. "These are Vitamin C pills. Vitamin C is what the body uses to power the immune system and make it stronger. All you have to do is eat these during your meals and your immune system should begin to improve. It won't be overnight, but you'll notice that you won't be getting sick as often as you used to."

"And when she runs out?" asked Eleanor, eyeing the pills as Kurogasa handed them to her middle sister.

"That's the genius bit," Kurogasa grinned. "Vitamin C can be found in fruits like oranges, lemons, and things like that. Just add those to her diet and she should be fine. If you'd prefer the pill form for convenience, Professor Colbert knows how to make them now so you can ask him for more."

"Oh thank you so very much!" Cattleya beamed at me. I honestly don't think I've ever seen someone smile at me so brightly and with so much gratitude.

…I think I just became smitten with her. Was she always this beautiful?

"So… just add more fruit? But our diets at home and the school offer a balanced set of meals," Louise frowned in confusion.

"Well, that's true but Cattleya was born without the same amount of Vitamin C you and Eleanor were given and while your diets kept it from getting any worse you likewise didn't make it any better." I answered. "Diets aside though, now I should get to curing her current illness so she can start on that cure." I then placed my hands, on Cattleya's chest, of course not actually touching it otherwise, Louise and Eleanor would definitely kill me for that. "Keikatsu!" I said and my hands glowed green. The effect seemed instant, Cattleya starting to take deeper breath as she felt her lung become clear of fluid. She seemed just as surprised as her sisters as her chest cold vanished without a trace. After about several, my hands stopped glowing green. "So… how do you feel?"

Cattleya took a few breaths before she gasped, "I… I feel wonderful! I can breathe! I feel like I can take long walks in the garden again!" The girl then abruptly began to cry as the weight of the situation landed on her, "I… I'm not sick anymore! I… I…*sniff* I can do things others can now…*sniff*…I …I'm… I'm so happy!" Cattleya lunged and wrapped her arms around me, pressing her admittedly soft and comforting body against mine. "Thank you so much Mr. Kururugi! You've granted me a miracle! I… I don't know how I can repay you!"

"Hahaha… It's the least I can do…" I smiled back. "And please, call me Kurogasa."

"I'll call you my hero!" Cattleya sobbed into my clothes. I smiled at this. I turned to the other sisters who were just crying with happiness as well. Well, Louise crying for her happy sister wasn't too much of a surprise. Louise really looked up to her after all. Seeing Eleanor sobbing for her sister's recovery was a little rarer. While I admit that Eleanor wasn't going to be winning the sister of the year award anytime soon, with how she seemed to berate Louise all the time, it seemed that she was a big sister where it counted most.

"Excuse me, I–" Agnès said as she came to the door, but then saw what was going on. "Is there something wrong?" She asked.

"Just the opposite," I replied, holding the sobbing Cattleya. "Something really good happened."

"I see." Agnès said. "Well, the King and Queen sent you this letter." She said. Louise got the letter seeing as I was busy holding Cattleya. She opened the letter and read the contents.

"What does it say?" I asked.

"It said to report to the Dancing Fairy Inn and wait for further orders." Louise said.

"That's it?" I blinked.

"In times like these, it's best to be brief," Agnès shrugged. "You two better get going. I'll meet you over there later on."

"I see, well, we better get going then Louise." I said.

* * *

So with that, after Cattleya giving me some kisses on the face, not the lips, which I didn't mind, Louise and I went on our way to the Dancing Fairy Inn. It's been a long time since Louise and I have been there. I wonder how Maria is doing. For those who don't know, Maria is one of the waitresses at the Dancing Fairy Inn. She had long brown hair that fell to her thighs and her hair was parted in two ways and wore a lime–green Fairy outfit. I saved her from a Hollow and she rewarded with a kiss on the lips. I smiled fondly at that. I admit that it was the nicest and also sensuous kiss she gave me.

"Kurogasa, what are you thinking about?" Louise scowled a bit.

"Oh nothing." I quickly said. "Just thinking about how long it's been since we visited Scarron and the others."

"It has been a while I suppose," Louise admitted.

When we got to the Inn though, what I saw almost made me shudder greatly. It wasn't the fact that the other maids were dressed up in some kind of formal dress and that Jessica had her hair tied up in a ponytail wearing some kind royal knight's formal dress, which I didn't mind, but it's the fact that Scarron was a huge pink formal dress with a purple hair wig on. Watching Kamen Rider Kiva, it's bad enough that Otoya had disguised himself as a woman to fool the Chameleon Fangire, and that Wataru had to dress like a girl in the Kiva movie, but seeing Scarron, my mind was practically scarred for life! Why does he keep doing this to me?

"Oh hello there Louise and Kurogasa, it's been a while!" Scarron said overjoyed.

"Hey Louise and Kurogasa!" Jessica greeted.

"Uh… hello…" Louise got out.

"Hi… Jessica and Scarron." I got out.

"No, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, NO!" Scarron said. "That's not right, it's Mi Mademoiselle!"

"Right… right…" I said. I just wanna get out of here now.

"So what brings you here?" Jessica asked.

"Oh, uh… we're waiting for someone." Louise answered.

"Kurogasa!" Maria cried out running over and practically glomped me in a tight hug.

"OOF! H–Hey Maria, long time, no see." I grinned.

"How have you been? It's been a while since I've seen you." Maria smiled as she let go.

"Well, I've been pretty busy lately. So what's with the… costumes all of a sudden?" I asked.

"Oh this? Well, Manager Scarron and everyone else are doing a play over at the Taniariji Royal Theater. It's called "Vancances en Tristania"." She then pointed at a poster. Louise and I looked at to see a poster of Jessica leaning in on Scarron for a kiss which made me shudder even more. Even Louise shuddered at this.

"My beauty has finally been accepted by the world and we'll let the world know of it!" Scarron said. I sweat dropped at this. His definition of beauty is really disturbing to be honest.

"A… play huh?" Louise said.

"That's right." Scarron said putting on hand on mine and Louise's shoulder which made us flinch. "And what great timing you two have. We need more manpower, so you two will be on stage as well."

"EHHHHHH?!" Louise and I cried out in shock. 'Why me?' I moaned internally. 'Why do you do this to me?'

"But for now, we have to work to do here at the Inn." Scarron said. "Kurogasa, you help Jessica with the cooking, Louise, get changed into your maid uniform! Quickly! Quickly! It's time to open the inn!"

"Yes, Mi Mademoiselle!" The Fairy waitresses responded.

"Um…" Louise tried to talk.

"Hey, why are you two still standing around there in a daze?" Scarron asked. "Shouldn't you be helping out here in the inn?"

"Well, the thing is…" I said.

"We're on an important mission." Louise finished.

"Stop talking so much, and get to work!" Scarron ordered.

"Oh man… this is going to be a long day…" I sighed.

"Hey, don't worry; at least you got me around for company right?" Maria asked with a smile.

"Well, yeah, I guess…"

* * *

And so the day went by, as we went to work, I was helping Jessica with the cooking while Louise was serving with the waitresses, and Scarron, who was in his regular clothes, for now, is being the host that he is. And whenever I'm on break, I'd talk with Maria and tell some stories to her about what I've been doing. Of course, it's not the top secret stuff that Wales and Henrietta entrusted us to keep secret, but stuff about Arturo and recently about Louise's family and all that was fair game. I have to admit, even though it's been a while that Louise has done this, she's gotten used to it. Of course, the only thing that hasn't changed was someone trying to grope her ass or flat chest and Louise will beat the crap out of that said person.

"Oh, Louise, there's someone here for you." Scarron called.

"Uh, okay." Louise said going over to a table. "Sorry, to keep you wai– you?" Louise asked a bit surprised. I looked up from washing the dishes to see Julio? What's he doing here?

"Yo, Louise." Julio greeted with a sparkle showing at one end of his teeth. What is pretty boy up to this time? As Louise sat down next to him, I leaned in just a bit to hear in to her conversation with him. He had his arm wrapped around his shoulder. "You know, you look really cute in that dress."

"H–Hey wait, don't get so close to me." Louise argued who was blushing a bit.

Julio leaned into her ear and said, "Actually, I came here to this Inn because Agnès told me to wait here as well."

"Huh?" Louise blinked.

Wait, so Julio is in on it too? Well, I guess that's no surprise there. With him being an agent of Romalia, I guess it make sense for him to be here for this mission. Julio better not be doing anything inappropriate to her though. I'm keeping an eye on him.

As the night went on, Julio already had the waitresses and Louise all at a table with food and wine on the table.

"Cheers!" Everyone but Louise at the table cheered.

"How many times do you have to toast until you're satisfied?" Louise asked.

"It's fun no matter no matter how many times you do it!" Julio laughed his face a bit more red than usual. "This inn is so great! Cheers!"

"Cheers!" The waitresses followed.

I sweat dropped at this, seeing Julio being drunk like Kyoraku. And I bet he won't be able to hold his liquor like Izuru Kira and Shuhei Hisagi. Heck, even Rangiku Matsumoto can't even hold her liquor to an extent. But for now I have to take eyes off of him for a minute, because I got work to do. I picked up an empty crate of empty wine bottles that were already used, carried them out to the back of the inn outside while it was already raining, and placed it next to the door so recycle people would come to get them. Suddenly, a woman in a cloak bumped into me and fell on her butt. She had a white dress on which looked a bit formal for some reason. "Oh, I'm sorry." I apologized as I knelt down. I couldn't see her face though. "Are you alright?"

"Um… is the Dancing Fairy Inn nearby?" The woman asked. Wait a minute, her voice sounded familiar for some strange reason. I can't seem to remember where though.

"Well, this is the place and… wait a minute, I know that voice, Queen Henrietta?!"

"Kurogasa?!" The woman said taking off her hood and revealed that it was Henrietta.

"Search over there!" A voice called. Henrietta clamped my mouth shut with her hand and me and her saw a group Tristainian soldiers running on the roads. "She might have run towards the Kurdone alley! Hurry!"

"This way." I said quietly to Henrietta as I took her hand and let her inside the Dancing Fairy Inn swiftly. I then guided her to the upstairs and into a dark room and closed the door. Henrietta sat on the bed. "Okay, I don't what's going on out there, but what are you doing here? Shouldn't you be with Wales?"

"I'm here to ask for your help." Henrietta said.

"Me?" I blinked.

"Yes. I want you to be my bodyguard for the time being."

"Why me?"

"I'm on a secret mission, so there is no other way."

"Is that why you asked me and Louise to stay here for the time being?" Henrietta nodded at this. "Alright, I understand. I'll accept it since it's a request from Her Majesty. It isn't anything dangerous is it? Because I know Wales and Louise would kill me if I let anything happen to you."

"Recently we've been hearing reports that a member of my Court has been conspiring with known agents of Reconquista to kidnap me in return for Wales so that they may execute him to claim sovereignty over Albion," Henrietta explained, her lips a grim line of anger. "Rumors say that with Wales still alive, there are pockets of resistance in Albion who claim Reconquista in fact started the war and framed the royal family for the crimes which the civil war had been started upon. Reconquista likely believe that by killing Wales they will effectively end any resistance to them."

"Then why would a member of your Court help them?" I asked.

"Money and power for when Reconquista takes over Tristain after eliminating myself and Wales," Henrietta frowned.

"Hmm… okay. I'll help you then."

"Thank you. Let's set out now." Henrietta said standing up. "The soldiers from earlier will search here sooner or later so it's not safe to remain in here." She then took off her cloak. "Kurogasa, are there any clothes that would make me look like a commoner?"

"Hmm…" I said as I looked into the wooden chest which had the girls' clothes. "Well, I only have Louise's shirt and skirt here." I said as I picked it out of the wooden chest.

"That's fine." Henrietta said. I turned around and… she took her off her white dress and was without any clothes on! I blushed red as a tomato as I covered my eyes with my hand. Good grief, why did she have to change in front of me, now of all times?! "Thank you Kurogasa, the shirt and skirt please?"

"S–Sure," I stuttered, handing the clothing over. Well, it seemed like Wales had one heck of a wedding night if his bride was any indication.

After a few seconds, I uncovered my eyes to see Henrietta in Louise's uniform. "Hmm… the shirt seems a bit small…" She said examining herself. It was true, the shirt was small and it showed a fair amount of her cleavage. Damn, she looks so hot wearing that. Damn it! Bad thoughts! Bad thoughts! Henrietta is married to Wales! Don't even think about stuff like that! "So, are you ready to go?" She asked.

"U–Uh, yeah, let's go." I said as I escorted her out.

* * *

_"Cheers!"_

_Back at the Dancing Fairy Inn, Julio and the other waitresses were having a great time at a table with food and drink. And surprisingly, Julio can still hold his liquor. Louise wasn't enjoying it though. In fact she was getting a bit tired of making toasts and was tired of drinking as well._

_"Ughhh… Agnès still isn't here yet." Louise groaned._

_"My little Fairies!" Scarron announced as he went to the table to where they and Julio were sitting at. "Since we're going to the theater tonight, the inn is going to close early, so let's get going!"_

_"Yes, Mi Mademoiselle!" The waitresses excluding Louise said as they got up and left to get ready. All the other people then started to leave as well._

_"What? It's over already? C'mon, let's have a few more toasts!" Julio whined._

_"Finally…" Louise said in relief. "Still, where's Agnès? She never showed up…" Louise sighed as she got up. "Kurogasa!" She called turning to the counter to where he is, but… he wasn't there for some reason. "Kurogasa?" Louise blinked. Where the heck did he go?_

* * *

It was still raining, and the soldiers were still all over the place interrogating some of the people on the streets. "Man, security has really tightened up around here." I whispered as we were hiding in an alleyway so we won't be seen so easily. Henrietta had her hair up in a ponytail so they won't garner suspicion.

"The Army received an investigation report that a daughter of royalty has been kidnapped." Henrietta explained.

"So wait, they're looking for you?" I asked incredulously. She nodded. "What do we do?"

"We'll garner suspicion if we hide our faces. We're going to walk through. Just follow my lead and we'll be okay. Place your arm around my shoulders."

"Uh… ok." I gulped. So with that, I put an arm around her and came out of the alleyway, walking on the walkway. The soldiers noticed us and they were staring hard at us. I could tell there was some suspicion in their eyes. "Uh… we're attracting a lot of attention to ourselves already…" I whispered.

"That's fine. Let's keep it that way." Henrietta whispered.

"But…" I said as I turned to her. I then turned really red as Henrietta placed my hand in her cleavage! Oh man, Louise and Wales would _definitely_ kill me if they saw me like this. But… as immoral as it is, and mortified as I am, we have to keep our cover up, otherwise, it'll be blown. I turned my head back to attention of the road, with my face still red as a bright tomato, trying my very best to endure this immoral act and not to look at my hand as Henrietta and I continued to walk through the streets with the soldiers looking on at us.

"Let's make a check at the opposite street!" A soldier said.

"Yes sir!" The other replied as they ran in the opposite direction.

Henrietta looked back and by the time she turned her head, they were gone. "Okay, we're good. The soldiers are gone." I sighed in relief as I took my hand out of her cleavage and release my arm that wrapped around her shoulders. I looked at the hand that touched her cleavage and I felt really embarrassed and humiliated. She seemed to notice the distress on my face. "Sorry, if I made you uncomfortable…" She apologized.

"I-I-It's okay," I stuttered. This was going to be a memory seared into my very existence from now on.

* * *

_Meanwhile…_

_Agnès was at the door of a mansion. "Open up! This is an emergency! Tell Sir Lishmon that Agnès of His and Her Highness's Firearms Squadron has arrived! It is an urgent matter and must be reported immediately!" The lights of the first floor lit up and a servant opened up the door for Agnès to come in. The servant then led her to a room where she will be waiting Lishmon. She was standing at the fireplace looking at the fire. As she did though, she was remembering a memory. A memory that she can't forget. It was twenty years ago that her hometown of Dungletale was destroyed by fire by a squadron of Mages and that she was the sole survivor of that village. Since then, she vowed to find the Captain of that Squadron who carried out such an order. The doors to the room opened and an old man in his late 60's, early 70's wearing a purple skull cap and purple robes carrying a staff entered. This was Lishmon, the Chairman of Legal Affairs. _

_"Urgent news, you say?" Lishmon asked who was rather annoyed at the sudden unexpected visit. "It must be an absolute emergency for the Captain of the Firearms Squadron to come all the way to the Chairman of Legal Affairs' house."_

_"Her Highness has disappeared." Agnès said._

_"What?" He scowled. "Was she kidnapped? _

_"We're investigating as we speak."_

_"We just had a similar kidnapping case the other day. Was your unit made to display such incompetence?!" He banged his fist on the table._

_"I assure you that we are searching for her in order to not present ourselves as such. In any case, we wish to get permission to set up curfews on the streets and seal off the sea ports." Agnès said placing a piece of paper in front of him showing the warrant. Lishmon scoffed at this and used his magic staff to get a pen and it flew to his hand. After that, he signed the warrant._

_"Do whatever you can to find Her Majesty; otherwise by the name of Legal Affairs, I'll hang you all." Lishmon sneered._

_"Yes, sir." Agnès said and with that, she started to walk out of the room, but stopped just at the door and looked over her shoulder. "Your Excellency."_

_"What is it now?" Lishmon asked._

_"I'm conducting an investigation regarding the Protestants. And it seems that Your Excellency was involved in that incident 20 years ago. You were the one who proposed the Massacre of Dungletale."_

_"Massacre? Don't make it sound so bad. The commoners in that village were plotting to overthrow the Kingdom. That was meant to suppress them and it was justified._

_"Suppression… I see." Agnès said. "I've investigated that matter and there aren't any records. Your Excellency, you should know the Captain who that led that Suppression Squadron." Lightning flashed and thunder boomed in the sky as soon as she said so._

_"How would_ I _remember small details like that?" Lishmon retorted. "Finding Her Majesty is more important than dealing with something which happened 20 years ago." Agnès looked at him for a while longer before turning her head back and headed for the exit._

_"I'll excuse myself for now." Agnès said and with that, she left without another word._

* * *

Henrietta and I soon made our way silently through the back alleys of Tristain, evading the guards as we went. Fortunately, we were able to arrive at an inn and rented a room that were going to hide out there for a while. It wasn't anything big, just a room with one bed and small table with candle lighting up the room.

"Is this room really alright for you?" I asked her. I really don't want Queen Henrietta to feel uncomfortable.

"Yes, it's fine." She nodded. I looked back at the window and it was still raining hard as it is.

"It's really raining hard isn't it? If this continues, it might last through the whole night…" I turned back looking at her, but then I noticed something different, her arms wrapped around herself and she was shaking. I slowly walked over to her, "Queen Henrietta?" I asked a bit concerned. "What's wrong?"

"I'm feeling cold…" She paused, hesitating. "Can you… hold on to me…"? She blushed, hiding her face from me slightly. I gulped and began to blush as I nervously sat down next to her. I really don't know how to react to this; I mean after all, she _is_ royalty… Henrietta hugged me as I wrapped an arm around her. Again, if Wales or Louise saw me like this with her they'd kill me. It didn't stop me from enjoying the contact though, even if it did make my guilt over the position grow. The woman was married for crying out loud! I shouldn't still be sporting this crush on her no matter how amazing I thought she was!

Suddenly a loud knock on the door caused the both of us to break from the hug. "Open up! This is the Royal Army!" Oh crap! The Royal Army found us already?! This was really bad. "Due to an urgent matter, I'll force the door open if I have to!"

"What do we do?" I asked the Queen hastily. She blushed and turned towards me.

"It can't be helped…" She said as took off the shirt.

"GCK!" I nearly choked out.

"IT'S OPEN!" The soldier yelled as, I saw out of the corner of my eye, two soldiers coming in, but they blushed at what they saw. My eyes were wide with shock and surprise as her smooth skin was on my body, her bust pressed tightly against me and our lips touching with her hand on my cheek. Man, Louise and Wales will definitely kill me now! I just _know _it!

"Che. Let's go." The soldier said as he and his companion left. Henrietta and I fell on the bed with her on top of me, with our lips still locked in place until she broke apart and we managed to breathe.

"Q–Q–Queen Henrietta?" I stuttered out. I can't believe what I just did. I just kissed the queen.

"I apologize for taking advantage like that," Henrietta blushed. "Circumstances hadn't allowed us much of a choice." Henrietta got off of me as we both got up and she put on back Louise's shirt.

"Man, now Wales and Louise are _definitely_ going to kill me for this…" I groaned.

"I won't tell if you won't," Henrietta teased. "I love Wales and were we able to avoid such circumstances I would be happy to, but in turbulent times we usually end up doing things we don't wish to do."

"True," I agreed. Well, at least it was a kiss and a lack of clothing rather than any sort of illicit affair "Still, getting in between relationships is not what I do. And I really don't want Wales thinking you cheated on him with me."

"Don't worry. He understands the plan and knows that part of hiding in an unsavory place means to do unsavory things," Henrietta explained. "That aside, he trusts you and knows you wouldn't take advantage of the situation while being alone with me." She finished with a smile, showing that she _indeed_ did trust me enough to do the things she had done with me.

Well, at least that gave me some relief. "Thanks…"

"You're welcome."

"But that aside, why do all this?"

"To lure the traitor out." Henrietta explained. "I've leaked the fake news of me going missing, but I wasn't sure that the traitor would fall for such a trick. That's why I ran away for real."

"So the traitor would believe that his contacts managed to kidnap you," I nodded. "He's probably got some kind of meeting place to iron out the last details of what he's supposed to do to solidify his position as well as receive payment for his services. I assume you plan on having someone follow him so he'll incriminate himself?"

"Exactly," Henrietta nodded. "And I know where he'll meet. So let's go."

"Where?"

"The theater."

* * *

Henrietta soon got in her royal clothes with her purple cloak on as well and went outside seeing that the rain stopped. And going quickly as possible, I carried Queen Henrietta in my arms using shunpo to get there. Her not being used to it wasn't a surprise to me seeing as this was a first time for her. We soon arrived at the theater with no problem at all and I let her down. "Psst. Over here…" A voice whispered. Henrietta and I turned towards the person who called us and it was a man in a cloak at the side of the theater and it turned to be Wales.

"Wales…" Henrietta sighed softly before the two ran towards each other and embraced, still quite obviously in love.

"I was so worried," the king sighed softly, almost collapsing into Henrietta's arms. He looked a little pale to me, likely he hadn't been sleeping or eating well since Henrietta left. He was probably more worried about Henrietta being alone in the cities where _anything_ could happen, but it would've made the traitor think that Henrietta truly had been kidnapped.

"Well, you have nothing to worry about King Wales; I've kept her safe and sound." I assured him.

"And you have my deepest thanks," Wales nodded, breaking his embrace with his wife. "Again it seems we are indebted to you."

"You don't owe me anything." I said waving it off, but then my face turned a bit serious. "So, everything is in place?"

"Yes." Wales answered. "We just need to wait for the traitor to come and listen in on his conversation with the spy."

"So we tracked down the spies too?" I asked.

"Yes. We waited for them to try and take Henrietta and captured them all in one fell swoop," Wales nodded. "One of them offered information and assistance in return for a lighter sentence."

"I see."

"Oh, Kurogasa!" A voice suddenly yelled. The King, queen, and I freaked out as we turned around to see Scarron, Jessica, Maria, Louise, and the other fairies pulling a caravan of some sort. "What are you standing around here for? We a play to set up and get to." Scarron said then noticed the King and Queen. "Oh my, it's the Ki–" I used shunpo just in time for him to shut his mouth.

"Will you shut it?" I hissed.

"His and Her Ma–" Louise was about to cry out, but I clamped her mouth too.

"I said be quiet." I hissed.

Out of all of them, it seemed that Jessica was the only one to get the situation. Her face turned serious as she gazed at me and the royal pair, "We just walked in on something we shouldn't have, didn't we?"

"Oh, an understatement," I grimaced.

"But… what are you two doing here?" Louise asked the King and Queen after getting my hand off her mouth.

"An important operation," Wales answered. "We uncovered a traitor in our Court and have set up a trap to prove his guilt. Things may become… violent, very soon."

"So, we only ask that you do what you're going to do. And that is to go on stage and do your performance." Henrietta said. "Do not speak of this to anyone until you do so. Is that understood?" Louise and the others nodded furiously at this.

"Just act natural," I insisted.

* * *

So with that, I told Scarron that I would be accompanying the King and Queen in this operation, so he allowed me to do so. The King, Queen, and I took our seats in the audience discreetly and Louise and other were doing their comedy performance. As it went on, I noticed the King and Queen looking at an old man in the seat in front of us. He was in his late 60's, early 70's wearing a purple skull cap and purple robes carrying a staff whispering with someone.

"The one in the purple robes is Lishmon, the Chairman of Legal Affairs." Wales whispered. "That's our man."

"Are you sure?" I whispered back.

"Yes. And the one talking to him is the one helping us." Henrietta whispered. "Let's listen in."

"So the Queen has yet…" The double–agent said.

"Right, she has yet to be found." Lishmon chuckled.

"This is our chance to invade."

"Yes, the timing is right, now that Her Majesty's whereabouts are uncertain."

"I'm right here!" Henrietta said standing up.

"Huh?!" Lishmon said surprised and stood up along with the double-agent turning around to see her. "Her Majesty!"

"I've heard everything you said Chairman Lishmon. I figured out that sooner or later you would contact your accomplice as soon as I went missing, and the truth would surface like a fox revealing its cunning tail."

"Oh? So your news of going missing was to lure me out was it?" Lishmon chuckled.

"That's _exactly_ what it is." Wales said standing up as well.

"_His_ Majesty!" Lishmon cried out as women with green outfits, yellow capes and swords came out from behind Wales and Henrietta. These were Wales's and Henrietta's Royal Guard. I stood up too to get ready for battle drawing Derf. The audience and Scarron, Louise, Jessica, and waitresses noticed too.

"Chairman Lishmon, for treason against the crown and country of Tristain, I hereby arrest you!" Wales declared.

I had never seen anyone turn so pale before in my life. Lishmon knew he was screwed now. He had been caught red–handed conspiring with an identified spy of Albion. He had even admitted to the spy that he was working to have Henrietta kidnapped for the interests of Reconquista, all of which for the sake of his own greed for money and status.

"It's over Lishmon!" I shouted.

"Oh really?" Lishmon said as men in blue outfits wearing berets and carrying swords came out from behind him. These were _his_ men. "I don't think so! Kill the King and Queen!" Lishmon said as he went to make his escape.

"Protect the King and Queen!" One of the female Royal Guards yelled. Soon, a battle broke out between male and female warriors and the civilians were running out of the theater to get away from the fighting.

"I don't think so," I growled, beginning to move, "Shunpo!" I dashed across the theater to cut off his escape, which I did, but then the old man used his staff and it glowed brightly so to blind me. I covered my eyes to shield myself from the light and by the time, it dimmed, Lishmon was for some reason on the stage.

"Wait, Lishmon!" Henrietta cried out.

"Until next time, Henrietta!" Lishmon cackled as he tapped his staff on the stage and a trap door opened and voluntarily fell in.

"He's getting away!" Louise cried out.

"Not on my watch!" I growled as I went in after him. He wouldn't be able to get away from me. Not with my speed techniques. He was likely a fire mage if he could make light like that. Now that I had an idea of what he could do, I could better fight him. I soon came reached the bottom and landed in what appeared to be an underground tunnel system. Lishmon was there and… Agnès? "This ends right now, Lishmon!" I shouted.

"What?! You followed me?" Lishmon asked surprised turning around.

"Of course I did."

"Wait, Kurogasa!" Agnès said. "Let me take care of him! He's the one who plotted the Massacre of Dungletale! The massacre of my home village!"

"What?" I gasped.

"Oh, I get it." Lishmon said turning to her. "You're the sole _survivor_ of the village."

"And I'll now take my revenge." Agnes said pointing her gun at him.

"Wait, Agnès, don't shoot him! We need him alive!" I shouted.

"Why? He doesn't deserve to live!"

"He _will_ pay for his crimes Agnès, but this isn't the way to do it."

"He has to suffer for what he did!" Agnès screamed. "He ordered the death of an entire village of people! Men, women, and children burned to death just because _he_ wanted it to happen! Because it was convenient for him! And even now he's smug about it because he thinks as a noble he's untouchable!

"He's not," I retorted. "He's going to go down for his crimes. He's going to lose his status, his title, his fortunes, his properties, and his freedom! It's as good as death, but worse because he'll be alive through it all!"

"Hmph. Like I'll let you take me alive." Lishmon said. "Listen, the Dungletale records which you speak of and looking for are in the basement of the Tristain Academy of Magic!"

"What?!" Agnès and I gasped.

"Naïve!" Lishmon shouted and fired a stream of flames at her.

"Damn it!" I gritted.

_"Release the magic within! Derflinger!"_

Derflinger's power unleashed from his Shikai as I moved. The light died down and Lishmon found me standing between him and Agnes with the last of his magical fire being sucked into Derflinger's blade. Not wanting to let him get another shot off, I thrust Derflinger forward and pierced Lishmon's hand, breaking his staff and pinning his limb to the wall behind him.

"AHHHHHHHH!" the former noble screamed, clutching at his bleeding hand.

"Shut up. You deserve worse," I snapped. I then got an idea. "Hey Derflinger, think you can drain a mage of his magic power when you stab them? Since this guy can't be trusted with the position of nobility, why not remove his symbol of his nobility?"

"Hmmm, I dunno Partner," Derflinger replied. "Why don't we find out?"

Derflinger then started glowing blue and Lishman's magic started to stream into him. The man screamed as I watched red energy pass through Derflinger's blade and into the sphere on his hilt. After several moments, this big pulse of red passed through Derflinger's blade and into the sphere, making it shine like a red ruby. I blinked at the sight of it, feeling a little surprised and pleased about it.

"I… I think that should do it Partner," Derflinger spoke up, likewise sounding surprised. "I yanked something pretty darn magical out of him at the end there. I think that was the source." Curious, I pulled Derflinger out of Lishman's hand and let him whimper over his wound. He snarled at me and Agnès before grabbing the remains of his staff and lashing out at the both of us as if he was going to conjure a big fireball spell.

Nothing happened.

"W–What?" Lishmon gasped. "M–My magic! No… impossible! I'm a noble! Magic is my birthright!"

"Well, you blew that by being a criminal, and one of the worst ones at that," I smirked, hefting Derflinger over my shoulder. Agnès looked like her birthday had come early. "Looks like you aren't a noble anymore."

* * *

Soon, the authorities came to take Lishmon for his crimes and the soldiers were getting statements from the civilians and Scarron and the others, including Wales, Henrietta, Agnès, myself and Louise. Right now, I was with Louise talking while sitting on the grass that's decorated the outside of the theater.

"I'm glad this is over with." Louise sighed.

"Yeah," I nodded, still holding Derflinger in his Shikai form with the orb in his hilt still a ruby red. So he absorbed Lishmon's magic core? Did it mean the next magical attack I made would be supercharged or would there be a fire element attack in them now? Could I maybe give the core to someone else? Seeing Siesta use magic would be a blast.

"Anyways, why is Derf glowing red all of a sudden?" Louise asked looking at the hilt.

"Oh," I shrugged. "I just used him to drain all of the magic power out of Lishmon, rendering him incapable of using magic ever again. So how was your end of the operation?"

"Alright, I guess…" Louise shrugged, but then she sniffed me for some reason.

"W–What is it?" I asked.

"This is Her Highness's perfume. Is there a need to get so intimate with her while being a bodyguard?" She asked. "You weren't doing anything strange to Her Highness were you?" I flinched at this remembering the kiss that Henrietta gave me.

"U–Uh, no, of course not." I got out. "Speaking of that, what were _you _doing while I was not around?"

"Eh?" Louise flinched. I looked at her and there was something off about her. "N–Nothing!"

"Oh yeah? And what's _that_ supposed to mean?" I huffed crossing my arms and raising an eyebrow. Knowing that Louise had been up to something while I wasn't around and wanting to keep what happened between me and Henrietta a secret; I unleashed the newest weapon in my arsenal, 'The Big Brother Knows You Are Lying' gaze. Guaranteed to cause misbehaving siblings to spill their guts about their misdeeds in under a minute.

"W–W–Well…" Louise looked in both directions and motioned to move in closer, I leaned and she whispered into my ear.

"WHAT?! You and Agnès kissed?!" I asked rather shocked.

"It was a cover!" Louise insisted, turning bright red. "We did it to keep the guards from noticing us!"

"Mm–hmm…" I said.

"It's true! You dare doubt me?!" She then pulled out her wand ready to cast a Void spell at me.

"Well," I commented, putting Derflinger between us so he could block the spell. "Agnès is a very well–established woman and she is indeed worthy of her position and she's extremely loyal from what I've seen. Maybe a good woman in her wife would help soothe her scars of the past. In fact, as your older brother I feel like I can entrust you to her. Hide any protruding features and no one will believe she's a woman." Okay, I was being a dick but this was too good to pass up. After today, I needed some laughs.

Louise was absolutely outraged. "I AM NOTHING LIKE THAT YOU IDIOOOOOOOT!"

*BOOM!*

I managed to get away from the explosion and started to run away from her. "Help, help! I'm being chased by scary imouto!" I laughed.

"GET BACK HERE!" Louise yelled while chasing me in pursuit.

* * *

Okay, that turned out to be a better chapter than the last one. Anyways, hope you enjoyed it as well as I have it written it. And as always: Review!


	7. The Underground Secret Document

Okay people, it's time for another chapter of Shinigami of Zero: Futatsuki no Shinigami! And once again, thanks to Ten–Faced Paladin and thetrueazure for helping out! Let's go!

Disclaimer: I do not own Bleach & Familiar of Zero.

* * *

Chapter 7: The Underground Secret Document

_In the King and Queen's study room, the Tristain General, General Poitier and their advisor Cardinal Masarini are in the room with King Wales and Queen Henrietta. In front of King Wales who was sitting at his desk, was piece of paper. This wasn't any ordinary piece of paper though; this piece of paper was an official declaration of war on Albion._

_"A declaration of war…" Henrietta frowned as she stood by her husband. She and her husband wanted some way to do this without bloodshed, but it seems that there wasn't such a choice in these times._

_"Yes." Cardinal Masarini replied. "Please sign the document. I urge the both of you to send out the Army. The Court has unanimously agreed to declare war. Our ally, Germania, has already agreed to join us and is waiting for you both to make a decision."_

_"And the preparations to attack Albion are finally completed!" General Poitier added. "We are now awaiting your order!"_

_"I refuse to sign this!" Wales protested slamming both his fists on the table. "These are my people and soldiers we're talking about! Both Tristain _and_ Albion!"_

_"My liege, they aren't truly your people anymore," Poitier argued. "They proved where their loyalties lie when they allowed Reconquista to lead them by the nose and betray your family!"_

_"Only because Reconquista framed my family for corruption and mistreatment of the common folk," Wales argued. That bastard Cromwell had played the sympathetic holy man well, but all the while he had been manipulating events so he could take over the entire country in some self–deluded belief that he was meant to lead the people. Even with him gone, his legacy of lies and corruption remained._

_"Cardinal Masarini, do you really want to go to war so badly?" Henrietta asked._

_"Well, no, but…Please Your Majesties, we must do this. I understand both of your love for peace and that you don't want any bloodshed. But if you continue to postpone the war, a coup d'état will surely take place. In the worst case scenario, His and Her Majesty will also be forced to relinquished control. The Royal Palace will be powerless from then on."_

_"Then let it!" Wales snapped standing up. "I would rather amputate my arm off than start a war against my own people!" _

_"Your Majesty!" General Poitier said in shock, but Masarini put his hand up to stop the former from saying anything else. _

_"The citizens are already crying out for military action against Albion. And should the warmongers gain control of the government and the Royal Army, it would only escalate the war more. There won't be anyone to stop them anymore. With both of your presences and leading the war, we can keep the casualties to a minimum." Cardinal Masarini said. "I know both of your hearts are in turmoil, but please make a decision._

_Wales sat down and placed his face in his hands, trying to think of something to do. Albion was his home and he dearly wished that he could take it back from those who stole it with their lies and deceit, promising fairness to the common people but likely wouldn't go through with it. He knew from experience that nobility liked their advantages too much to share them with people who were below them._

_Henrietta gently rubbed Wales's shoulders, wishing to comfort him in his turmoil. So far they had been trying to spread an information campaign in Albion concerning the lies that Reconquista had been spreading about the royalty in order to start the civil war that allowed them to take over. Many people thought the rebel group was out to save them, but some of the information they gathered only seemed to see that the group wished to conquer all of Halkeginia. Cromwell somehow figured it was his destiny to retake the holy land while most of the others in the group were greedy and desperate for more power that their tiny floating nation wouldn't allow them._

_Finally, Wales spoke, "Is there truly no option left to us? No way to end this without shedding the blood of my people who have been so deeply lied to by false saviors?"_

_"I am afraid not," Cardinal Masarini sighed. As a holy man he too despised war, especially war begin for the sake of greed and sparked by lies. Still, it seemed that the corrupt had managed to worm their way into power and were even now seeking more in their never ending appetite for it._

_Wales looked to his beloved, and Henrietta nodded to him. "Do what you need to do…" She said. Wales nodded at this and turned to Cardinal and General._

_"General Poitier and Cardinal Masarini, we King Wales and Queen Henrietta of Tristain declare war on Albion!' And with that, he and Henrietta signed the document._

* * *

"They've done it!" One citizen cried.

"Our Armies has succeeded!" Another shouted.

"Praise Tristain!"

It's been a week since we arrested Lishmon for his crime of treason against Tristain, the day after arresting Lishmon; I've heard news that Wales and Henrietta have officially declared war on Albion with Germania supporting them. I know for a fact that it wasn't an easy decision for Henrietta and especially Wales to make. Louise and I were in town when we heard those shouts from the citizens.

"They did it! The Tristain and Germanian forces have attained the first victory!" Louise said happy. She read the news that was posted on the big wooden board for the entire town to see.

"Oh. So what does it say?" I asked. I still couldn't quite read the language yet even though I got some lessons from Professor Colbert whenever he has free time.

Louise began to prattle off what the report on Tristain's and Germania's army had done, but I was only half listening. Not by choice, but I was still feeling a little apprehensive over what Derflinger had done to Lishmon, draining his ability to cast magic. His core had been glowing red ever since, and when I had practiced with him, rather than raw energy like before, I began shooting blasts of fire. When I sealed Derflinger back again though, a red strip of ribbon hung from the end of the handle. If there were any long term effects for this, I didn't know. Derflinger was certainly clueless since he never got to try what he did before.

"…our side has taken minimal damage, and the Albion forces were severely damaged! Isn't it great? Tristain is winning!" Louise said happily.

"Oh, uh… yeah." I said and then started walking away with Louise following.

"Hey, what's with you? Aren't you happy we're winning?"

"Well, not exactly. Wales and Henrietta were opposed to this war. _Especially_ Wales. I can't imagine him being so distraught of fighting against his own people."

"Oh," Louise gasped. "That's right. I had forgotten all about that. Albion is King Wales' homeland."

"Yeah, and I know for a fact that it was a painful and difficult decision for him to make." I had to hand it Wales though; he was acting like a real king. He was considering the good for everyone and since marrying Henrietta that included the good for the people of Tristain. Although, even though he likely would've preferred chopping his own arm off rather than attack Albion, he knew that Reconquista had to be stopped. And with the lies that pack of snakes fed to the people, the army at the very least was going to remain loyal and believe they were ending the 'corrupt rein' of the royalty of Halkeginia.

Damn that Cromwell.

Louise and I continued to walk through the town until my peripheral vision caught something. I turned around to see a stand for buying clothes and my eyes widened and my mouth dropped in shock at one particular clothing item. It was… it was… it was a Japanese high school sailor uniform!

"HUH?!" I gaped. Where the heck had this come from?! It was something from my world!

"Huh? What is it?" Louise asked.

"It's a sailor uniform!" I cried out in joy running over to it. Oh, how I've missed Japan, it makes me wanna cry. But I have to be sure though. "Hey mister, what's this?" I asked.

"Oh, you've got a good eye." The store owner said. "This is a sailor's clothes." So I was right! "The fabric's pretty tough, and–"

"I'll buy it!" I cut him off eagerly.

Louise goggled at me as I handed the happy merchant the money. "Why are you so interested in that outfit?" she demanded. "It's for a girl if the skirt is any indication!"

"I know, but it's something from my homeland!" I grinned. "Just having a piece of it is something I can't turn down!"

"But what are you going to do with it though?" Louise asked.

"Well…" I said pondering on it. That's a good question. What _am_ I going to with it?

"Give it to that maid girl." Derflinger said wriggling from his sheath.

"Huh?" Louise and I asked looking at the sword.

"You _did_ say something about that maid girl being of Japanese descendant. And you come from Japan from your world right Partner? You should give it to her as a thank you present for helping you out."

"Huh…" I blinked. That wasn't a half–bad idea I suppose. I admit that I did _indeed_ owe Siesta for all the times that she helped me out. And she _did_ help out with me talking about what happened with my parents. I know for a fact that she would listen to me whenever I have a problem.

* * *

_"I can't believe it! Her Majesty gave me permission, yet Old Osmond doesn't let me in!" Agnès huffed storming the outside hallways of the Academy. Just recently Agnès was given permission to gain access to the underground secret library under the school, but Old Osmond apparently wouldn't let her, because he was never given such an order. "Geez, he just doesn't get me…" She growled._

_"Agnès?" Julio's voice asked. She looked up to see him coming towards her. "What's wrong?"_

_"That's…" Agnès trailed off looking away from him._

_"Huh?" _

* * *

So with that, Louise and I went back to the Tristain Magic Academy and when we got the entrance, Julio was there at the entrance. "Julio?" I asked.

"Oh, hey you two, can you come with me for a minute? Agnès needs help with something." He said.

"Sure, what for?" I asked.

"Just come with me." Julio said.

* * *

"A secret underground library?" I blinked. Louise, Julio, and I were in a room with Agnès sitting at a desk. Before that though, I dropped off the sailor uniform to Siesta.

"Yes. Underneath the Magic Academy is the said place where top secret documents are kept. I've gotten permission from Her Majesty to browse the contents of the books in there, but Principal Osmond said that he didn't receive any order to unlock the entrance, so he refused to do so."

"Even when the Queen gave you permission?" Louise asked.

"It's dangerous, apparently. Since it was built over a thousand years ago, it must be filled with lots of traps, so no one can enter." Julio stated. "Plus, I heard that an anti–theft spell was cast on it as a security measure, and simply entering carelessly could cost you your life."

"So I assume the documents there could possibly contain sensitive information pertaining to a lot of people and the government as a whole?" I asked.

"Which is why the information is so well protected," Julio nodded. "However, the headmaster is being oddly stubborn about this. Either he has not yet received the notice, or something happened to the message, or…"

"There is something in there that could be sensitive to the old man himself," I nodded. "Knowing _him_ though, it's probably something perverted or something and he's embarrassed to risk letting us find it."

"Louise, can you use Dispel on the lock with your Void magic somehow?" Julio asked.

"Maybe, but not without concentration. I could blow up the place by accident." Louise grimaced a bit. "Oh, I know! I can ask Big Sister Eleanor. She may know something about unlocking magic locks."

* * *

"Opening magic locks you say?" Eleanor asked who was working with a chemistry set of potions. Agnès Julio, Louise, and I nodded at this. I myself had some reservations about going to the blonde for help. It wasn't just because she rubbed me the wrong way but I kept having this sensation that she likely wasn't going to help us. Ever since meeting her I knew she was a stickler for just about everything and if nothing else if there was even a hint of trouble with her youngest sister she'd be there berating Louise for even thinking about causing trouble before punishing her with her various torture techniques.

"Yes, I need access to the documents that are in the underground secret library." Agnès said.

"I see." Eleanor said. "Well, in that case, I'll help you."

"WHAT?!" Louise and I gaped.

"Must I repeat myself? I said I'll help you. Besides, to be honest, I'm curious to see this library for myself. There could be records of past top secret documents of some magical experiments that were conducted in secrecy."

Well, so much for my impression of the woman.

* * *

_Siesta was really happy. She had just gotten a present from Kurogasa, which was the Japanese high school sailor uniform. He explained to her about the clothes in his world and the girls in his world wear that uniform when they go to school. She was also told by him that it was a thank you present for helping him out too. Wasting no time, Siesta went into her room and put on the sailor style uniform on her and looking at the mirror, she had to admit that she looked really pretty._

_"It's such a nice present that Kurogasa gave me." Siesta smiled fondly as she looked at herself. She then gave a twirl around and admired herself again. She just looks really cute wearing it. "I should show him to Kurogasa." She decided. Yeah, that would be nice. Having him see her in the dress would make him happy. She went out of her room and set out to find Kurogasa. She went through some hallways and down some stairs trying to look for Kurogasa, but was nowhere to be found. "Hmm… I wonder where he is…"_

_"Where are you bringing us?" A voice asked. Siesta recognized that voice. It was Kurogasa. Looking downward and overhead, she saw him, Louise, Julio, Eleanor, and Agnès, going into the women's restroom for some reason._

_"Why is Kurogasa going into the women's restroom?" Siesta blinked. She then decided to go and follow him. She had to show off the uniform he gave her before she lost sight of him. And obviously, she was going to thank him for it._

* * *

Agnès guiding me and everyone else to where the entrance of the library is. And that happened to be in women's restroom. I sweat dropped at this. At least that's _one_ way of protecting the documents in a sense. "This is the entrance." Agnès said as she opened the door. It opened to reveal an empty room with some janitor stuff to the side, but what Agnès did was the push the wall that was in front us and a section of it suddenly turned.

"Kinda mundane considering what magic you folks are so proud of," I commented idly.

We went into the big hole that the wall had made thanks to turning and we were met with a staircase. I used my Kidō to make a ball of Shakkahō ball in my hand like Renji did in the Bleach anime when he, Ichigo, Rukia, Chad, and Uryu went to save Orihime, only it's not small like his. Agnès had a lamp to light the way too. We went down the stairs and it was almost scary as the caves near Siesta's village when we went to find the Zero Fighter.

"This is strange though…" Louise started to talk. "Why can't you just burn them instead of hide them?"

"Once documents become official, they can't be easily disposed of." Eleanor answered. "How could they anyways. Of course, it'll also be troublesome for those documents to be exposed to the public. Government policies don't make sense today, nor had they a thousand years ago. Not to mean it's always been contradicting." _That's_ something I can agree with. We soon reached the bottom of the steps and came upon an elaborate door. Eleanor walked up to door and examined it with handheld magical bifocals before putting them down and away. "There are three magic locks, each one of them is simple, but you can't enter without the combination."

"Do you know it?" Agnès asked. She got her answer when Eleanor, with a wave of her wand, said, "Lock! Behold the key and unlock yourself!" All three of the locks clicked and it unlocked the door.

"I'll take that as yes." I answered.

"You did it!" Louise cheered.

"Thank you. I'm grateful for that." Agnès smiled a bit. That was rare sight to see. "I'll take over from here and go it alone."

"Oh no you don't, we're coming with you." I said.

"Yes. Things are about to get interesting from here on out." Julio added.

"But it's dangerous…" Agnès protested.

"All the more reason we need to go with you." Louise insisted.

"Go where exactly?" A voice asked. We turned towards the stairs where the voice came from and it was…

"Professor Colbert?" I asked seeing him holding a lamp as well.

"Agnès, I thought that Principal Osmond told you not to come here!" Colbert scolded. "Your request has already been rejected."

"I have my Majesty's permission to be here but your employer seems to be playing stupid!" Agnès growled. "Since he refuses to obey his Queen, I was forced to do this. Go to my Majesty for confirmation, mage!" And with that Agnès opened the door and ran inside.

"Agnès!" Colbert cried. Louise and I and everyone else went in also. "Stop!" He shouted as he ran after us.

* * *

Eventually, Colbert had no choice but to come with us. He wasn't going to waste his time going back up and get Principal Osmond or anything else of higher rank seeing as we're already deeper into the cave pathway, which were adorned by pillars on both sides of the cave walls. "What's so important about going to the underground library anyway?" Colbert asked.

"It has something to do with the grudge I held all these years." Agnès said cryptically.

"Grudge?" Colbert blinked.

"When our forces manage to take over the Albion shipping port, the King and Queen will head to the frontlines personally. I, of course would naturally go with the King and Queen. I want this to be done and over with before going to Albion."

"Wait King Wales and Queen Henrietta are going to the front lines?" Louise asked.

"If the leaders do not lead, how are the armies expected to follow?" I asked.

"Exactly, and since His and her Majesty signed the declaration of war, causing the army to risk their lives fighting, there's no way that they're going to overlook everything staying behind in a safe place."

"So who is this foe you are referring to?" Colbert asked.

"Shh!" Agnès said as he stopped walking and us too. "Someone's following us." We all turned around and I had my sword at the ready. It was hard to hear, but you could hear faint footsteps. Everyone was tense. Who could it be? The footsteps got closer and louder and soon a figure came to light and it was…

"Kurogasaaaaa!"

It was Siesta and she was wearing the sailor's uniform I bought her! Oh, I'm in heaven right now!

"Siesta?!" Louise gaped. "Wh–wh–what are you doing here?!"

"I wanted to thank Kurogasa for giving me such a cute outfit by showing it off to him," Siesta beamed as she approached us. She then twirled on the spot. "What do you think?"

"Eh he heh heh heh!" I chuckled, rather entranced. It fit her figure so well and she looked so cute in it. I could stare all day long! Forget the document hunt!

"And I've also heard from him that young girls in his homeland wear clothes like these." Siesta added.

"I see. I've heard that you came from a distant country." Julio said turning to me.

"Yeah, it was nostalgic seeing what Siesta was wearing." I answered.

I then noticed Louise staring at Siesta with an 'I'm jealous of you,' look. I mean sure if there was another sailor's uniform, I would've bought one for Louise, but it was the only one I had. Siesta noticed this.

"What's wrong?" Siesta teased Louise flaunting her uniform. "Jealous of my looks?"

"W–What's make you say that?" Louise stuttered. Yep, she's jealous.

"Oh Miss Vallière; it's okay. Besides, I bet it won't look good on you anyways since you have no breasts."

Uh–oh, not good. Louise popped a vein at that. "W–W–W–What did you say?!" Louise stuttered angrily.

"Uh… Louise, calm down," I tried to soothe her temper. Nothing set Louise off faster than mocking her breasts. Maybe it was because everyone, even her own family members seemed to have good luck in the bust area, but whatever the reason, it was a sore subject for her.

"You dare say that my breasts are flat and concave?!" Louise shrieked preparing to use Explosion.

"Miss Vallière, please not here!" Colbert cried out.

"KNOW YOUR PLACE MAID!"

*BOOOOOOOOOOOOM!*

Ooooooh, look at the happy little birdies…

* * *

A few minutes later, I woke up from the explosion that Louise made. Damn, that really hurt. I slowly got up and saw that everyone else was coming to. "Everyone alright?" I groaned.

"I think so," Colbert groaned.

"Ouch," Eleanor mumbled. "That was a void spell or one of Louise's mistakes?"

"Damn mages and their tempers," Agnès grunted.

"I hope Kurogasa's gift is okay," Siesta sighed, looking herself over for rips or tears in her outfit.

"I'm fine here…" Julio muttered. Everyone else soon got up from the ground including me.

"Damn it Little Louise!" Eleanor snapped pinching her sister's cheek hard before letting go. "Didn't I tell you there's a time and place for everything when it comes to magic?! Have you been ever taught that at _all_?!"

"I taught her a number of times…" Colbert sweat dropped.

"I was avenging an insult!" Louise cried back.

"Criticizing breast size is not an insult when it's true!" Eleanor growled.

"You really shouldn't have done that Siesta…" I frowned at her.

"I'm sorry…" Siesta said shyly.

"So long as you mean it," I sighed. Was it my destiny to be caught between catty women?

We all turned around at the damage that Louise made and sure enough, the pathway was blocked by a lot of rocks. "Well, we can't get out of here unless an Earth mage moves these rocks." Colbert said.

"So in other words, we can't go back." Julio said.

"And the only way now is to move forward." Agnès said as she turned towards the other direction where it wasn't blocked and walked. The rest of us then looked at each other before we followed her. It was silent for most of the walk until Julio spoke up.

"So what kind of uniform is it?" He asked. "Do girls go to war in your hometown, and with _that_ on?"

"Good grief, no." I said giving him an 'are you kidding?' look. "The one Siesta is wearing a school uniform. Neither guys or girls to war in clothes like that."

"I'd like to go to your country someday, if there's a chance." Colbert said, but then frowned a bit. "I'm envious that your country has no war."

"It isn't really without war…" I trailed off. It was true too. My grandfather was in WWII. And he died during the bombing of Hiroshima. Thankfully, my grandmother wasn't there. She and her son, who was my dad, were somewhere else at the time of the bombing.

"I just can't stand the thought of young people being victims of war. Let alone participate in it." Colbert said.

Agnès stopped walking at that and we stopped too. "We're in the midst of war! Guiding them to fight for their country, is the duty of teachers like you, right?"

"Don't be ridiculous! You're just saying that now because you have no idea what war is really like! You haven't seen its true face!" Colbert argued.

Agnès snarled, ready to tear into Colbert for being naïve about the nature of war, but then Colbert did something I never saw him do before. He glared at Agnès in a way that made him seem like a different person. "If you all but looked at the cruelty of war and wretchedness of the battlefield–"

"I have."

"What?" Colbert gasped.

"My home village of D'Angleterre was burned down by the military, but it was more like a massacre than a war. 20 years ago, insinuating acts of treason, using the harboring of rebels as an excuse, the government destroyed a newly formed sect and exterminated the religious leaders. In reality, that was nothing more than a hoax by Lishmon. They quelled a rebellion that never took place and those that did the deed were rewarded for their achievements and gained power. My family and friends were burned alive. I was the only one that survived; all thanks to a man that carried me out of there. The reason I'm doing this is because the man who did the actual assault of my village might still be alive somewhere."

"And you think there's a record of that said person in the vault?" I asked.

"Whenever soldiers are dispatched there is a record to who has been sent out so their commanding officers know they aren't available as well as for other reasons," Agnès explained. "It will also have the names of his unit. I intend for each and every one of those bastards to go down and answer for their genocide!" It was dead silent for the rest of the walk after that. Near the end, we saw a bright light and ran towards that light. When we got to the light at the end of the tunnel, what we saw was amazing. A large and wide underground canyon and was there and a narrow stone bridge was over it and leading up to it as a large building, sort of like what the Romans would build.

"That must be it!" Louise gasped.

I then took a small rock and threw it into a canyon like pit. I listened for the rock to hit the ground and I didn't hear it until a minute later. "And it's a long way down." I whistled. "I am warning you all right now. Watch. Your. Step." I should start getting that air standing technique ready in case someone did fall. Knowing my luck, they would and bring several people with them.

"Kurogasa, take the rear–guard." Agnès said and started walking with Colbert following, and then followed by Eleanor, Julio, Siesta, Louise, and lastly me.

"Agnès, what do you intend to do after uncovering the name of that man?" Colbert asked.

"Is there a need to ask?" Agnès retorted.

"Then, what do you intend to do after taking your revenge?"

"I'll fight for His and Her Majesty until I die. That's about it."

"Are you really going to devote your precious life to revenge and war?" Colbert sighed wearily. "Have you fallen in love before?"

"What?" Agnès asked.

"Fallen in love… you're still young. Don't you feel there's something more important than fighting?"

"That's stupid!" Agnès said dismissing it. "I don't have time to talk about that with you!"

Thankfully, we managed to get across safely without anyone falling. We came up to the door and we saw something written in marble above the door.

"Alteration, destruction, and removal of documents, as well as the use of magic, is forbidden." Eleanor translated. "Failure to abide by this will result in a catastrophe. Hmph. I bet it's just a threat." She scoffed.

"And we're not gonna take any chances. Louise, Eleanor, Professor Colbert, please give me your wands and staff." I said holding out my hand. "I'm not having a repeat of what happened last time." Colbert obeyed, knowing the consequences of breaking the rules. Eleanor huffed, but she obeyed. Louise looked like she wanted to argue as per the norm but she likewise handed over her wand. Frankly now that the girl knew she could use magic she seemed more determined to latch onto it like a security blanket these days. I took the wands and after that, Julio and I opened up the big doors. We were amazed to see that the inside was actually a library filled with many dusty shelves of books towering up to the ceiling.

"Amazing, this is on par with Romalia's religious library." Julio said amazed.

"It's a lot of stuff needed to be hidden, that's for sure." I said impressed.

"So where's the document you are looking for?" Louise asked.

"It's from 20 years ago. It must be within these recent files." Agnès said. So we started our search for the document on D'Angleterre. There were so many books, it could be anywhere library vault. For the past few hours we looked through book, every page, heck, even every paragraph and sentence in these books and we still found nothing.

"Man, this is gonna take forever to look through…" I sighed as I closed a book. I then noticed Professor Colbert looking Agnès and at his book back and forth. Could he… "Hey, Professor Colbert…" I whispered.

"AH!" Professor Colbert nearly shouted. "Don't do that…"

"Sorry… anyways, I couldn't help but overhear your conversation with Agnès. Are you in love with her?" I asked raising my eyebrow.

"D–Don't be ridiculous." Colbert stuttered. "It's nothing like that…"

"D'Angleterre Case? This isn't it…" Louise said as she threw it carelessly.

"Wait! That's it!" Agnès cried out as she caught it.

"EHHH?!" Everyone else and I said.

We found a desk to use. Agnès sat on the chair and began to look through it while and everyone else gathered around her. "Found it!" Agnès said. "The Order Creed. In order to prevent the spread of a plague, people in D'Angleterre will all be burnt."

"Plague?" Siesta gasped.

"Well, I guess you're right about a rebellion being a hoax made by Lishmon." I said. "There wasn't even a rebellion to _begin_ with."

"So the rebellion was a cover up for this Plague Countermeasure." Julio stated.

"And here's more!" Agnès said as she found something else in the book. "A special task force was put together to fight the plague. The Captain's name was…" Agnès turned the page, but… it was torn off!

"Gone!" Louise gasped.

"The Captain's name is torn off and missing?" Louise asked.

"That's strange. This place exists for the sake of holding every unwanted document and record of other people." Eleanor frowned who was really confused.

"Maybe someone got here before us." Julio stated.

"Who?!" Agnès demanded.

"I don't know. Maybe the Captain himself." Julio shrugged.

"It could be still somewhere here in the library." I said. "Like hidden in another book or something. "Let's find it." So the seven of us continued to search for the name of the Captain. I went up the stairs that was in the middle back of the library, to the second floor and pulled out a random book from the shelf…

*CLICK*

"Huh?" I blinked. The shelf then suddenly shook scaring the crap out of me and then turned as if it were a door. "Found something!" I called. Everyone came up to meet with me.

"A hidden room?" Colbert asked who was puzzled at this.

"And there's a treasure chest." Siesta said pointing at something. We looked to see what she was pointing at and on the floor _was_ a treasure chest. We walked towards it and I knelt down carefully opening it up. My eyes widened in shock and disbelief of what was in the chest.

"N–No way! The Shisui Mirror?!" I shouted.

"We actually _found_ it!?" Louise stared at the mirror in shock.

"What's it doing _here_ of all places?" Julio wondered.

"I don't know…" I got out still baffled at this discovery. Who would've thought that the Shisui Mirror would be here? But it's impossible though. In the DS game, it was destroyed after Fujimaru and Matsuri beat Seigen in his 2nd Hollow Form with the help Ichigo and friends. Yes, I know I left out that part when I first told about the Shisui Mirror but like I said, I couldn't say that because it came from the DS game. But why is it here all of a sudden?

"What is it?" Siesta asked.

"I'll explain it to you later." I told her while I reached out to grab the Shisui Mirror.

"W–Wait Kurogasa!" Colbert yelled, but it was too late as I grabbed the mirror. The moment I did the entire library started to shake violently.

"W–What's happening!?" I asked.

"This isn't good!" Colbert said. "The anti–theft magic has activated!"

"You idiot!" Eleanor screamed at me. "Usually if something hidden, it's bound to be booby trapped!"

"Well, no use complaining about it now!" I snapped back.

"What about the Captain's name?!" Agnès pleaded.

"Forget about it for now! Run!" I yelled. Everyone and myself got out of the hidden room with me grabbing the Shisui Mirror and ran down the stairs until we reached the first floor of the underground library. The shelves themselves then started to close in on themselves. As we ran, one of the heavy books from the upper shelves fell down on Agnès's ankle.

"Argh!"

"Agnès!" I cried out. "Professor Colbert, Agnès is hurt! Help me carry her!" The Professor and I helped Agnès up as we made our way out of the library quickly. By the time we got out, Louise, Eleanor, Siesta, and Julio were already on the other side of the narrow stone bridge. The only problem is the bridge was starting to crack. "Aw crap, this is not what we need. Agnès can you walk?"

"I don't think so…" She said.

"Then climb on my back." Colbert said.

"But…"

"Just do it!" Colbert snapped all of a sudden. Agnès looked at him for a while until she complied and got on his back. "Alright, let's go!" With that, Colbert with Agnès on his back and I started running across the cracking bridge, but as we ran, the bridge was already breaking behind us. That only served for us to run even faster. By the time, we were about to reach the other side, the bridge had already broken completely and we three started falling.

"Kurogasa!" Siesta shouted.

"Agnès!" Julio yelled.

"Professor Colbert!" Louise screamed.

"Damn it… I gritted. Thinking fast, I held out my hand down towards the black abyss and said, _"Bakudo # 37: Tsuriboshi!"_ I created a huge ball of blue energy and shot it towards the black abyss making six "ropes" from its center. The "ropes" attached themselves to the edges of both sides of the canyon and the energy in the center solidified into a flat elastic–like cushion and we managed to fall onto safely.

"Phew… they're safe…" Eleanor said in relief.

"That was too close for comfort. You two okay?" I asked Professor Colbert and Agnès.

"We're okay." Colbert said.

"Thanks." Agnès added.

"No worries. Now you guys hold on to me, we're jumping up." I then held the two, Colbert under one arm and Agnès under my other arm and holding the Shisui Mirror in my mouth. I jumped up in the air making a platform of reiatsu in the air so I can walk on it and walked across to meet up with the others.

"Thank the Founder that you're alright." Louise said relieved.

"It was a close call…" I sighed.

"But now, we'll never get back to the library." Eleanor said as we all looked towards the library that's without a bridge to get across the canyon.

"Yeah… sorry, we couldn't find the name though Agnès." I apologized.

"It's alright…" She assured me.

"Well, now that that's over with, let's all head back to the Academy." Professor Colbert said. We all nodded at this.

* * *

During the walk back, while Professor Colbert and Julio were helping Agnès walked, I explained to Siesta of what the Shisui Mirror was and everything about Arturo. Who he was, what his abilities were, and what I can do to defeat him using the Shisui Mirror. By the time, I was done talking about it, we were back at the blocked entrance thanks to Louise's explosion earlier.

"Oh crap…" I groaned.

"That's right. We're caved in thanks to Louise's Explosion." Eleanor said glaring at Louise.

"That's because–" Louise got out.

"I guess we'll have to wait until help arrives." Julio sighed.

"Not necessarily…" I said.

"Huh?" Everyone blinked at me.

"Professor Colbert, hold the Shisui Mirror for me. Everyone else, I suggest you stand back." I said. Colbert got the mirror and he and everyone else stood back. I concentrated at the wall of rocks in front of me and raised my arm forward and outstretched, using my free hand to grip the firing arm for extra support, with the palm facing flat toward. This Kido spell better work, if Tessai could do it, then so can I. A ball of energy and electricity started forming from my hand and as each second passed by, it grew larger and larger. Everyone was gawking at the immense power I was showing off.

_"Hadō #88. Hiryū Gekizoku Shinten Raihō_ (Flying Dragon–Striking Heaven–Shaking Thunder Cannon)_!"_

I fired a gigantic beam of electrical and spiritual energy striking the wall of rocks and exploded violently on impact making a huge dust cloud. The sheer raw power of the Kidō spell caused me fly backwards before it wore down and I fell to the ground.

"Kurogasa!" Everyone cried out running up to me. Well, Agnès somewhat hobbling over.

"Are you okay?" Siesta asked worriedly.

"Ow… maybe I put too much into that…" I groaned as I sat up. "Did that do the trick though?" Everyone looked at the damage I did, and when the dust cloud cleared, I saw that I made a huge tunnel into that rock wall, and the tunnel was holding too.

"I'd say that you did." Colbert smiled. "Now we can get out of here."

"Good." I said and then got up. "Let's go." Well, we didn't manage to find the name of the Captain that destroyed Agnès's village, but we _did_ get the Shisui Mirror. And now that we have it, I may have a chance to Arturo after all.

* * *

Alright, there you have it people, another chapter done. Hope I did good. So you readers, you know what to do! Review!


	8. Academy Crisis, Atonement of Flames

ARGGGGHHHHHHHH! I hate writer's block! I hate it with a passion! I'm really sorry guys that I've haven't updated this story in a while! Hopefully, this chapter will make up for it as I'm going to do episode 8 and 9 together in one chapter! So let's do this!

Disclaimer: I do not own Bleach & Familiar of Zero.

* * *

Chapter 8: Academy Crisis; Atonement of Flames

_Albion. A floating island nation, that was in a period of political strife at one time. A group of nobles, known as Reconquista initiated a coup d'état against the royalty, and most of the Albionian Royal Family had been killed. The last notable royal left was King Wales who is still to this day alive and is married to Henrietta of Tristain. The name of the leader of the Parliament forces was Oliver Cromwell, and the leader of the Albion rebellion is also aptly named Cromwell. Thanks to him, he spreads the lies and deceit to the country's people falsely promising fairness and equality and he was deemed as the people's savior. However, that was all a front so he can rule all of Halkeginia himself. Of course, that didn't come to fruition because Cromwell was just another puppet of a far more sinister evil. And part of the evil was from the current ruler, Sheffield. _

_We now turn our attention towards Albion's castle that sits in capital, Londonium. Inside, Sheffield was meeting with someone. He was a man with in his late 30's early 40's with spiky white hair an eye patch covering one of his eyes and a scar on the other, wearing black sleeveless shirt with tan pants, a tattered purple cloak, and carrying a rather large metal club of some sort. Sheffield was standing in front of the window looking out before turning to him. "How nice of you to come, Benubiro. I would like for you to lend me your strength." _

_"My group consists of only boorish people. What exactly do you want us to do?" Benubiro asked._

_Sheffield sat down in front of her very large desk. "The allied armies of Tristain and Germania have captured the port of Albion. You should have already heard about it." _

_"You want us to exterminate them eh?" Benubiro asked with his arms cross in front of him._

_"No, engulfing 500 battleship in flames would be a difficult task even for you right?" _

_Benubiro reaches for his club and holds it up in front of him. "I don't like to beat about the bush. Where is the place you want me to burn?" _

_"The target is the Magic Academy." _

_"Magic Academy?" Benubiro chuckled._

_"And he shall assist you." Sheffield said gesturing to a person who was leaning on a wall. He had turquoise hair, yellow eyes, and the remains of his Hollow mask on his right cheek, his appearance almost mimicking Grimmjow's. It appears to be the upper jaw, but is extended around the back of his head and has a sort of crest. His Hollow hole is located below the base of his neck. He wears the basic Arrancar uniform, but with a belt worn just underneath his sash. This was Arturo Plateado._

_"I have no interest in your… campaign, so to speak." Arturo stated. "The only reason I am allying myself with you is because I want to kill the Shinigami."_

_"But of course." Sheffield said. "We will not interfere with your plans. Just do not interfere with ours." Arturo only scoffed as he left the room. Oh, how he would love to kill Kurogasa and show how powerless he was against him. Kurogasa Kururugi… that fool. He thought he could defeat him the last time they met. But that was proven wrong, when he couldn't use all of his Shinigami powers. Even his Bankai wasn't able to beat him. Arturo knew that he was the strongest. No one should be able to defeat him. And he was going to prove it by killing Kurogasa._

* * *

The next day, I was in for a rude awakening. Apparently, Eleanor came into Louise's room while we were sleeping and wrapped her up in rope and covered her in a sack. I don't know what the heck got her to do so anyway, I was about to free her until Eleanor stopped me from doing so. I asked her why, but she didn't really give me a straight answer. I followed Eleanor anyway, with her carrying the sacked up Louise that was floating in the air thanks to her magic. She was put in a prison cell for some reason. Inside to room the sack floats down to the floor. A wand is waved and rope start to glow.

"Hurry up and open the sack!" Louise demanded. The rope was soon loose and she gets out of the sack and stands up. "Who are you?! Do you know who I…" She stops when she sees who it is. Louise is surprised to see Eleanor standing there. And she had a stern look on her face. "Big Sister, Eleanor!" I came in behind her still half asleep.

"Louise! You shall stay here for the time being." Eleanor said.

"Why?"

"Why? It's because of you spreading that nonsense around."

"What nonsense?" Louise asked.

"Of you going to the frontlines! What else? I heard it from Kurogasa." She looked at me in shock.

"Kurogasa!"

"What?! I didn't tell her anything! Honest!" I said raising my hands in defense. I remembered yesterday, which was the day after getting out of the underground library with the Shisui Mirror in tow.

* * *

Flashback

_Agnès was running training with her Firearms Squadron. Two of them have swords and the other four with guns shooting at targets. Louise and I were watching from behind. The two with swords have a bundle of tied straw in front of them. They each slice through the straw bundle. _

_"Take aim! Fire! Agnès shouted. The four women with the guns fired. Three hit their target and one is off to the side. "Aim properly at the target! Enemies will be moving around on the battlefield!" _

_"Yes!"_

_"What an amazing aura she possesses." Louise commented._

_"Yeah, hard to believe for the trainees that they are only training." I added. I mean, they've been training non–stop all morning. I guess in a sense, she really is like Soi Fon. In the 3rd Phantom, when Omaeda gives the player, Soi Fon's schedule, the players notices that she doesn't have time to eat, sleep, or even "go." That was really crazy._

_"Everyone stop! Take a five minute break!" Agnès ordered. The Firearms Squadron were able to relax. Louise and I went up to her._

_"Agnès, did something happen?"_

_"Something trivial. I'll be leaving this place soon. His and Her Majesty will be going to the frontline. They'll be setting out in seven days. As the Firearms Squadron, in order to protect Her Majesty, we'll be proceeding to the Albion battlefield together with her. We'll be bidding farewell to this Academy. The only regret I have is not being able to uncover the name of D'Angleterre enemy."_

_"I'm sorry we weren't able to help you find that name, though." I apologized._

_"Don't worry about it." She assured me._

_"I'm going to the frontline too." Louise said._

_I was shocked and looked at Louise. "Eeeeh? You? Going to the frontline?!" _

_"I have to help Their Majesties. I just have to somehow be of help."_

End Flashback

* * *

"You didn't. I listened in to your conversation." Eleanor said. "The daughter of la Vallière Family isn't allowed to go to the battlefield! And besides, as a mage, what can you do when you can't even cast your magic properly? Especially when you are a user of Void?"

"It's alright! Surely I could be of some use during the fight!" Louise protested. That didn't help the situation much as Eleanor was getting frustrated already.

"Listen properly, Louise! The battlefield isn't as simple as you think with your naïve mindset."

"That's why I'm going! The only person able to protect Their Majesties is me!"

"Shut up! I won't allow you to leave this place until you change your mind!"

"That's too mean!" Eleanor then pulls out Louise's wand out her clothing she is carrying.

"I'll take care of this."

"You're too unreasonable, Big Sister Eleanor!" The said sister waved the wand and Louise floated up about two feet. "What? Put me down!" She ignored her as Eleanor walks out of the dungeon cell. Ok, this was getting really ridiculous. I start to reach to Louise when Eleanor's hand comes in from the right and grabs my collar. She pulled me out and pushes me out the door. After that, she pulls out her wand, waves it and Louise floats down with her feet dangling waiting to touch the ground. When Louise touches the ground she started to run towards Eleanor when the latter threw Louise's clothes at her. She then stops in her tracks and the door slams shut. Eleanor looked through the little window with bars in the door. "You shall remain in there until you change your mind!" Outside the cell Eleanor turns to me and hands over Louise's wand to me. "And you shall remain here to look after Louise."

"Um… okay." I nodded dumbly.

"Kurogasa! Have you become Big Sister Eleanor's ally?"

"No, it's not that, it's…" I waved my hands.

"Miss Vallière!" Everybody turned around to see Professor Colbert coming towards us. "You should listen to your older sister."

"Professor Colbert…" Louise whined.

"Professor Colbert, would you please enlighten this younger sister of mine of the reality? I'll excuse myself." Eleanor then walks off down the hallway.

"_You're_ the one that needs enlightening!" She yelled towards Eleanor.

Colbert steps in front of the door. "Your sister is just worried for you!"

"Although I'm not good in magic, I can do whatever Her Majesty requests! I'll defeat the enemy's General for everyone to see!"

"Defeating the enemy? Does that mean you're going to _kill_ the enemy?" Louise is taken a back at this.

"I–I didn't mean that…" Louise stuttered.

"Fight for Her Majesty… Defeat the enemy for the people! No matter what excuse they use, in the end there'll be people being killed!"

"Professor Colbert…" I got out. I noticed the way he was looking away from us. As if… he was troubled by something. It was that same look when we were going to the underground library yesterday. I knew for a fact, that it _was_ something troubling, but I couldn't figure out what it is. "I don't want my students to repeat the past mistakes! Please don't ever mention going to the battlefield ever again!" After that, he left without another word.

* * *

_Later that night, outside the main gate, the two moons in the sky shone. All was peaceful and quiet, but that was about to be broken soon, a floating warship floated towards the Academy. On the ship, were Benubiro and his crew looking out at the Academy below them. Arturo was there with them._

_"An Academy full of kids…" _

_"That's not fun at all." One of the men said._

_"No, the Magic Academy should be totally occupied by women now right?" A second asked. _

_"Women? That's not bad!" A third added. _

_"We'll have them as our slaves then!" The fourth laughed. Soon the entire group was laughing, excluding Arturo of course._

_"What a despicable bunch of follows!" Benubiro chuckled. "Be it women or whatever, we'll let them die in a similar manner as well!" He then turned to Arturo. "Hey, you. It's time to put the plan in motion."_

_"I am not your servant, mortal." Arturo said snidely. "I know what to do."_

* * *

That night, Louise was sleeping away in her cell, while I was leaning on the wall keeping an eye on her… most of the time. I'd doze off every now and then, but I can stay up. What's keeping me up though was Professor Colbert's behavior. Ever since we came out of the underground library he's been acting strangely as of late.

"Something on your mind Partner?" Derf asked as he wriggled up from his sheath.

"Louise wants to go to war to protect the Princess and thinks she can make a difference because she has the power of the Void," I said.

"And you disagree?" Derf asked.

"Yes, she's got power, but the fact is that we'll be going to war and in war people die. Noble or not she's still just a kid. I don't ever want her to kill anyone. Because…"

"Because…?" Derf prompted.

"When you kill someone you can never go back. Once you take a life, it infects your soul. Some people break down when they can't cope with their first kill. And there are the psychos who enjoy it because it gives them an adrenaline high. They only feel alive when they cause death." said Kurogasa.

"And you're afraid the little girl will become either one of them," said Derf.

"Derf, wars in my world are never noble. People die, homes get wrecked, and atrocities are committed. War is not good because war is just another name for 'murder'. The only difference is that it's justified. I won't deny the fact that we need to go to war because we're being attacked, but I wish… there was a more peaceful solution. Violence should only be the last resort when all other options are exhausted,"

"Wise words, Partner."

"I've had a lot of time to think about things," I told Derf. "But Louise needs my support and guidance. I'm her Onii–chan after all." All of sudden, I felt a huge amount of reiatsu from out of nowhere. I tried stabilizing myself for a while and that caused Louise to wake up too.

"Wha–what's going on?!" Louise cried out as she got up.

"Arturo…" I growled. "He's here."

"W–What?!" Louise freaked out.

"Louise, stay here and don't go anywhere!" I said and then threw her wand into her cell. "I'm only doing this one time, but use your wand only to protect yourself and not get out." With that said I performed Shunpo to reach Arturo.

* * *

I could sense his Reiatsu. He was close. I was wondering what he was doing in the school but knowing him it can never be good. But first I had to make a small detour. Going into Louise's room real quick using my Shinigami powers, I grabbed a hold of the Shisui Mirror and then after that darted back out. I was continuing to follow Arturo's reiatsu and it was pretty far away from the school for some reason. When I was a fair distance away from the school, I couldn't sense it anymore. "What the–"

"What's wrong?" Derf asked.

"I don't know. All of a sudden, Arturo's reiatsu just disappeared." I said.

"GRRRRAAAAOOOOOGHHHHHHHH!"

"Oh, you've gotta be kidding me…" I groaned. I looked to see in the sky, a horde of Hollows coming at me and… three people on top of them for some reason. What the heck is going on? These people were allying themselves with Hollows?! Were they nuts?! Then again, when did war _ever_ make sense? They spotted me and launched their spells at me. I saw a stream of water coming at me followed by a tornado of wind. Finally, chunks of rocks were being thrown at me. I was being besieged by a trinity attack of elements. "Derf!" I called.

"Ready, Partner!" Derflinger replied. My only shot at surviving this was to absorb the magic with Derflinger.

_"Release the magic within! Derflinger!"_

Derf glowed and changed form into the Soul Calibur sword and I blocked the elemental attacks. The attacks were absorbed and filled up Derflinger. "Now, time for my counterattack!" The Hollows roared. "To beat the rider, aim for the horse! _Majutsu Hono Shogekiha_ (Magic Fire Shockwave)!" I swung Derf releasing a shockwave of fire and magic at the Hollows that were giving the three people transportation. I just hoped it was enough but then the Hollows' masks began to crack and finally shatter before the Hollows themselves faded away. Their riders, however, weren't so lucky. They soon were burned alive, as I cringed at their cries of agony and pain of fire that was eating at them before they fell to the ground with a sickening thud. Taking a moment to recollect myself, I went over to where the three bodies were. "Man, that was not what I had in mind…"

I guess this was inevitable. At some point I would have to kill. I had a sword and at some point it was going to shed blood.

"Partner." said Derf promptly.

"Right, I gotta go find Arturo," I said, focusing at the task at hand. I put my negative thoughts behind me. I needed to focus.

"You won't have to look far, Shinigami." A voice called. I turned around and looked up in the sky and there stood Arturo in the sky.

"Arturo…" I growled as I readied Derf.

"Well, well…" Arturo said. "I can see your skills have improved. It is a shame though that your chances of survival are still slim to none."

"What are you doing here?!" I demanded.

"I'm here to kill you of course. As I told your little group, the next time we meet, I won't be as merciful. This time Fénix will dine on your spirit energy!" Ok, Arturo was here, he wanted to kill me. Well, I wasn't gonna make it easy for him. If this was how he wanted it, this was going to end tonight. I needed to pull out all the stops and stop holding back. It was time to use my full power to take this Arrancar down and bury him six feet under.

"On the contrary Arturo, It'll be _me_ who will dine on your spirit energy, or should I say, the Shisui Mirror will!" I then took from under the lapels of my Shihakusho, the Shisui Mirror and Arturo looked immediately disgusted. "Remember this Arturo?!" I sneered.

"You little insect! You dare have that damned artifact in my presence?!" Arturo snarled.

"Well, I know it pisses you off," I grinned. Ok, pissing off an Arrancar was a bad idea but I was just attempting to throw this guy off his game. Maybe if I threw off his focus, I could take advantage and use his rage against him. Or end up getting killed. I gulped. Maybe I should've thought things through. However, Arturo was here and he wasn't going to leave until either one of us was dead. But then, I noticed something different. He was… smiling? Then he started to chuckle and then laugh. "What's so funny?"

"I just remembered. That mirror you hold in your hand can only work if someone has a special kind of reiatsu. And the last person to use it is already gone." Arturo said.

Oh damn… how could I forget _that_?! Konoka Suzunami was the last person to use it. And she's already dead. In the DS game, Konoka uses the power of the Shisui Mirror, but it drained her life so quickly before Arturo could be killed when Fujimaru and Matsuri Kudo first encountered him. I _really_ should've thought this through.

Well, then I just have to do this the old fashioned way. Arturo charged at me and I gripped Derflinger. Once our swords met, sparks flew and Arturo grinned as the edge of his Zanpakutō ground against mine. He kicked me away and swung his sword diagonally to bisect me from shoulder to hip but I managed to avoid it. However, he recovered and thrust his sword towards my heart. I parried with Derflinger but then I saw one of his hands had left the hilt of his Zanpakutō and was glowing with energy. He punched me in the gut and buried his fist in my stomach before he said two syllables.

"Bala."

I was blasted through the air and sent crashing against the ground with explosive force. I was dazed disoriented for a moment but then I heard Derf scream, "Partner!" I looked up and saw Arturo coming down with his Zanpakutō pointed straight at me. I rolled away and he pierced the ground next to me. I used Shunpo to make some distance but he gave chase and continued to stab at me, forcing me on the defensive. Dammit, this guy was unlike any of the opponents I had fought! He was a monster with a blade, a bloodthirsty beast whose only desire was to watch me bleed and writhe in agony.

Payback time.

_"Shakkahō!"_ I called and I drove my hand into his gut. The explosive red energy sent Arturo flying but I knew that his body was durable and able to withstand what I had done. All I was doing was buying myself some time. He went tumbling but stabbed his sword to the ground and it dragged along before he stopped tumbling. He spat to the side and looked at me.

"Pathetic!" Arturo said as he now used his Sonido to get behind me. Reacting quickly, I managed to block the attack, but then he used Sonido again and attacked from another direction and I blocked that too. However, it was now a repetitive process in Arturo's hopes that I would soon make a mistake and that he would take advantage of it.

"Damn it, this is getting me nowhere..." I gritted. I don't know what to do at this point.

"Partner, I'm gonna have to absorb the magic out of those bodies we scorched if we're to beat this guy." Derf said.

"WHAT?!" I gawked. Was Derf crazy?!

"You heard me Partner!"

"But–"

"Look, I don't like it either, but at this rate, we're not gonna survive much longer."

I wanted to argue, I wanted to protest there was some other way, but Derf was right. This was about survival and I needed to survive to keep on protecting Louise. I had to do what I had to do, even if I didn't like it. This was war and ultimately survival was top priority. "Fine, I'll do it."

"Alright, but you're gonna have to buy me some time. Absorbing their core magic takes a while." Derf said.

"I know…" I said. Looks like I'm gonna have to use those 3 Kido that Urahara used to bind Aizen before attempting to hurt him with Senjū Kōten Taihō.

"What's the matter, Shinigami? Run out of ideas?" taunted Arturo.

"Nah, I got plenty more. _Bakudō # 61: Rikujokoro!_" With a wave of my hand, six bars of light appeared and attached to Arturo's waist.

"What!?" Arturo shouted. "Do you actually think this will hold me!?"

"No, but these two would probably hold adding on to it. _Bakudō # 63: Sajo Sabaku_ (Chain link Chain Bonds)_!_" A long chain of golden chain links appeared and wrapped around Arturo tightly. "_Bakudō # 79: Kuyo Shibari_ (Nine Sunlight Traps)_!_" Nine black hole–like circles encircled him. These will hold for now, but I don't know how long though, so I'm gonna have to act fast. I went over to the bodies of the mages. Derflinger said that their magic cores were still active but only for a short time after death. I felt uncomfortable harvesting their magic cores from their bodies like some kind of scavenger, but I convinced myself I was doing this for the right reasons. It made things easier, but not by much. I only focused on the motive behind my actions and not the action itself. Taking a deep breath, I stabbed Derf into one of the dead mages hands and Derf glowed blue as water surrounded his blade. This mage had the element of water. I was always taught to have respect for the dead and this was too much for me. I moved over to the second and third mages, absorbing their wind and earth magic as well, filling Derflinger up. Soon the crystal orb on the end of the hilt shined four bright colors of red for fire, blue for water, green for wind, and yellow for earth. By the time I was finished, Arturo had freed himself from the multiple Bakudō spells I used on him.

"I must say, your Zanpakutō is interesting, able to absorb spirit energy in order to grow stronger. You might even say it's just like me."

"Screw that!" I growled. "Derf is nothing like you!"

"Really. How did it feel when your sword absorbed those magic elements?"

"Shut up! I won't fall for mind games!" The crystal in Derf glowed red ruby and engulfed the blade in a blazing inferno, causing Arturo to take a step back. "At least I'm using them for the right reasons! And to prove it; I'll defeat you with them!" I sent a massive fireball at Arturo who just stood there with a smile on his face when the fireball hit, there was a massive explosion and he was nowhere to be seen.

"Above you Partner!" Derf yelled as I looked up to see Arturo above me with a white orb in his hand.

"Disappear." Arturo fired a massive white cero at me which forced me to use shunpo to avoid the cero which scorched the ground below us. I reappeared on the ground panting up a storm.

"Whoa, I barely avoided that." I said.

"No time for breaks partner because here he comes." I looked up and saw Arturo bringing his sword down onto me, but Derf's crystal glowed yellow and a rock wall blocked his sword before it shattered and I was able to back off and gain some distance.

Arturo spoke, "I told you before that those runes of yours can only take you so far."

"Maybe, but it just means I have to go beyond my limits, Arturo!" I shouted. "BANKAI!" A pillar of reiatsu shot up in the air as it surrounded me for a few seconds before it dispersed revealing me in my Bankai. Siegfried's armor on my arm, the white sleeveless haori with a cape on my waist covering the back of my legs, Derflinger in his large ice crystalline sword state. It was there.

_"Derflinger Magicae Egredietur!"_

"Your Final Release," Arturo studied. "Like that would make any difference." I used Shunpo and smashed my fist into Arturo's face. He went sailing through the air at high speeds before hitting a wall.

"I think it might," I replied.

Derf glowed blue as I accessed the water powers. _"Mizuryu Shogekiha_ (Water Dragon Shockwave)_!_" I sent a shockwave of water and spiritual energy at Arturo and it went towards its target. It changed form to, true to the name of the attack, a water dragon which emerged, and it rushed towards the Arrancar, maw wide open to devour him.

"Hmph." Arturo scoffed as he held out his hand and blasted it away with a Cero. It dispersed the water particles as the Cero went towards me, but I blocked it and Siegfried's armor gradually grew on me until half of my body was covered in armor.

"Okay then, time for Plan B. Derf, need to access the Wind element."

"One wind element, coming right up!" Derf said as the sword glowed green all over. A swirl of wind spiraled around the blade furiously.

"Alright then, take this! _Kaze no Kizu_ (Wind Scar)_!_" I swung Derflinger and unleashed a cyclone of green razor wind towards Arturo. Okay, yes I know I stole that name from the show InuYasha, but I couldn't help myself. I always wanted to say that when swinging a sword. And besides, the green razor wind show that it's not the Wind Scar, so… yeah, there you go. The green razor winds went towards Arturo, but he simply dodged the attack.

"Is this your limit?" He used Sonido to close the distance between us and swung his Zanpakutō for a decapitating strike. Fortunately, I managed to block it with Derf.

"I got plenty. Derf, Earth element!"

"You got it, Partner!" Derf said as the sword glowed yellow.

_"Iwakuzure Surasshu_ (Rock Wave Slash)_!_" I yelled as I pulled back and swung Derf colliding him with Fénix, but now a shower of rocks and dirt hit Arturo and I backed off after the attack. I panted as Arturo stared me down from the opposite end. I had kept throwing different elemental attacks, hoping that the use of one would offset him enough for me to nail him with another. Unfortunately, it seemed his Hierro would block the worst of it and even when I _did_ hurt him, his regeneration quickly fixed it.

"Your tenacious, I'll give you that much," Arturo frowned. "Almost none have ever lasted this long against me."

"Yeah, so I've heard," I panted. Okay, new idea time. If I couldn't take him down with any one magical element then maybe it was time to try combining them and see what happened then! Remembering that elemental chart I saw in the Naruto Wikipedia where elements combined to create another one, I decided to try those. "Hey Derf, mix up the water and wind element! Time to freeze this guy in ice!

"You got it partner!" Derflinger crowed, a green and blue light glowed on Derf beginning to create some kind of cold mixture.

_"Tsurara Arashi_ (Icicle Storm)_!"_ I swung Derflinger wide, unleashing gale force winds filled with sharp icicles which cut through the air. The ground between me and Arturo was frozen and the farther the shards went, the bigger they got as they accumulated the moisture in the air. The attack struck home as Arturo began swinging Fénix to knock the shards out of the way. I knew he'd block it, but it was only to get him to hold still as the ice began to freeze his feet to the ground.

"Fire and earth!" I ordered next. The red and yellow began to mix "Yogan Nami (Lava Wave)!" Slashing Derflinger along the ground, I caused a wave of magma to erupt from the ground and fly in burning globs at Arturo who still would not move from his spot.

"Combining elements to stop me eh? Impressive, but it will end up the same!" Arturo said as he unleashed a Cero on the oncoming attack. The magma exploded from the attacks, the globs dropping on the ground, before the magma cooled enough to turn into rock. This was getting ridiculous! Couldn't I do anything to shut this guy up and take him down? I had the mirror but without that special Reiryoku I can't use it to stop him!

Wait…

My Reiryoku wouldn't be enough to activate the mirror, but perhaps using the magic power collected in Derflinger _would_. It was different from Reiryoku so maybe it would be enough to trigger something in the mirror. I was getting desperate by this point so I certainly didn't have anything to lose! "Derf, think you can charge up the Shisui Mirror with your magic?" I asked

"Uh, maybe. If I'm touching it," Derflinger answered. "Think it might be enough to get the thing working so we can cream this guy?

"Hopefully. Let's do this!" I needed to buy some time though. I think using that cube barrier, Hachi used when he went against Barragan in the series would be perfect for it. Although, it's not the idea solution, it's a feasible one.

So with that, I took to the air with Arturo following me. "Trying to run away are you?" Arturo said. "Well, you're not getting way that easily!" He yelled throwing another Cero at me.

"Who said I was running away?" I asked making Arturo confused for a moment as I temporarily put Derf away on my back. "Ryubi no Jōmon (Gate of the Dragon Tail!" Doing the hand gesture that Hachi did, over a dozen pillars appeared arranged by my hand gestures, making them form a gigantic shield or door like barrier between Arturo and I blocking the Cero. "Koko no Jōmon (Gate of the Tiger Fang)!" Doing a different set of hand gestures, on Arturo's right, a barrier appeared out of nowhere and takes the shape of a watermill. There was an inner section that can be opened up like a set of fangs allowing me to attack through the barrier. "Kikai no Jōmon (Gate of the Turtle Shell)!" Doing more hand gestures, on Arturo's left, many small hexagons appeared and combined to form a honeycomb–like structure. "Hoyoku no Jōmon (Gate of the Phoenix Wings)!" A ring of fire appeared above Arturo and many planks combined to form a sort of lampshade resembling enfolding wings and a crude bird's head/body. "Shiji no Saimon (Gate of the Four Beasts)!" When the four barriers came together, they made a rectangular prison–like barrier trapping Arturo in.

"Wow, that's a big cube you made!" Derf exclaimed.

"It's a huge barrier basically. I need to buy enough time to charge up the Shisui Mirror." I explained as I took Derf off my back then turned to Arturo. "I'll let you amuse yourself with this barrier!" I then landed on the ground and took out the Shisui Mirror, gently placing it on the ground. "Alright, let's do this!" With that, Derf's tip touched the Mirror itself and the mirror began to glow radiantly. Inside the barrier as Arturo fought to escape. The barrier managed to hold Barragan for a time so it should be able to hold Arturo as well. Of course, I was under no illusions that Arturo was stronger than the former God–King of Hueco Mundo. He would be able to break out and do it soon.

BOOM!

Like right now.

"Aw crap! Derf, better make it fast!" I urged.

"Just a moment longer Partner!" Derflinger called.

Arturo scowled as he saw us holding up the mirror again. However, he then noticed that whatever Derflinger and I were doing with it, it seemed to be working. Snarling, he finally lost his cool. Either he was actually afraid of the mirror or he just hated being reminded that he wasn't invincible, he slashed open his palm on his sword before pointing it at me, collecting his power. "Gran Rey Cero!" he bellowed. He fired a huge white beam at us finally destroying the barrier and it was coming towards us fast.

"DERF!"

"Done!" Derf said. And just in the nick of time, I picked up the fully charged Shisui Mirror and dodged it.

"Phew! That was too close. Now to–"

*SLASH!*

"GAAHHH!" I screamed, feeling the hot wound on my back spilling blood down my body. The next thing I knew, he was punching and kicking me everywhere like Cloud doing his Omnislash for a minute until he slashed me one more time. "GAAHHH!"

"Partner!" Derf cried as I tumbled down to the ground.

"I've toyed with you enough Shinigami," Arturo frowned, standing over me as I tried to stand up. "I don't know what you think using this world's magic on the mirror will accomplish, but I won't let you live to try it."

"Oh…yeah?" I panted, gripping the artifact. Dipping into Shunpo, I twisted around and pointed the object straight at Arturo, capturing his reflection, "THEN TRY AND STOP ME!" At that point, the mirror started shining. The magic from the mirror shot out white energy towards Arturo and hit its mark, causing Arturo to slide back from the amount of energy I shot at from point blank range gaining some distance from him and red energy from Arturo started to come out and went into the mirror. At first I thought, it was working to say the least, but… for some reason he wasn't affected by it! "Hahahahaha! Fool! Did you really think it could work? Sure, it's working right now, but it's only taking away little by little, so I don't feel a thing! Hahahahaha! I wonder how long you can last until the mirror runs out on you? And then you'll have no choice but to use your Reiryoku, and thus end your own life!"

"Damn… He's right. At this point…" I said. But then, for some reason I felt a hand touching me, I turned around and it was ghostly image of… Konoka Suzunami?!

"You!" Arturo gaped, seeing the ghost of the first person to ever defeat him. "But… you're dead!"

_"So I am, but my spirit remains as one with the mirror!"_ Konoka's ghostly voice echoed through the air. _"The strange Reiryoku this Shinigami placed in the mirror allowed my spirit to awaken."_ her eyes narrowed in anger at the shocked Arrancar. _"Arturo Plateado, I gave up my most precious possession, my life, to defeat you. Now I shall use my remaining power to take what is most precious to you! Your strength!"_ As if hitting a switch, the mirror suddenly flashed brighter than ever before and the drain went into high gear. Screeching like some kind of ungodly fusion of bird and beast, Arturo struggled to back away. Unfortunately for him, he had been up close when he began gloating over his victory so he was receiving the absolute worst of the drain right away. By the time, it was finished, Arturo staggered rather violently. The Mirror must've drained out a lot of the reiatsu he's acquired over the years.

_"He's weak! Now is your chance to strike!"_ Konoka told me.

"Right! Derf, mix all the elements together!" I shouted. I raised Derflinger up, letting fire, earth, wind, and water spin around the blade like a pointed vortex. Derflinger looked like the raw fury of nature shifted into a blade form. Bellowing, I charged at Arturo before unleashing a powerful slash which let loose the combined fury of the four elements. "Seirei Shōgekiha (Elemental Shockwave)!" Arturo vanished into the combined elemental assault. I couldn't see him, but I could tell that I slashed and blasted him at the same time with the attack. I knew he was being thrown back by the assault and I could only hope that Konso would take effect and bring him down once and for all. So rushing towards him, I had the end of my hilt facing him, and it was about to hit until… a beam hit down from the sky over Arturo and I was knocked back. Damn… Negación… It just _had_ to be at the last moment. I hate it when that happens! Still, I was feeling good. I still had the key to beating Arturo and all of his extra Reiryoku was drained away. He was equal to a Fracción or even less right now. He was also injured, making it likely it would be a very long time before he could recover and try to fight me again.

"You may have won this battle, but not the war! I _will_ have my revenge!" Arturo yelled.

"Eh, they all say that," Derflinger snorted.

"Before I go, let me tell you one more thing. This battle was all just a distraction to get you away from that Academy so my so–called associates can attack it." WHAT?! Damn, I didn't even realize it and I just got played into it. "The Academy is probably is in ruins by now. So I guess it's not a total loss, I can watch you writhe in despair as your friends die! Hahahahahahahaha!" He laughed as he continued to rise into the sky until a Garganta opened up revealing the many Menos Grande. When he went in, the Garganta closed. At that point, I then reverted back to normal and suddenly collapsed due to the injuries I sustained. Sure, I can get back to the Academy, but it's gonna be painful getting there.

"Partner, you okay?" Derf asked worriedly.

"I'm fine…" I said. "Just banged up." I then turned to Konoka's ghost. "Thank you for helping me."

_"No, thank_ you._ If you hadn't awakened me with your spiritual powers, I wouldn't be here."_ Konoka smiled. _"Alas, that was the last of my strength. I cannot help you again when you face Arturo, but now that his strength had greatly diminished, I have faith that you will defeat him."_

"I _will _defeat him. You have my word as a Shinigami. Rest easy." I said. Konoka smiled and with that, her spirit disappeared and that, the mirror cracked and shattered into pieces. "Now I gotta get back to the Academy! This battle was all a distraction!"

"Well c'mon then, let's go!" Derf urged.

* * *

_Meanwhile, all was not well at the Academy. It turns out that the Benubiro and his men the Academy girls' hostage and were keeping them hostage, including Headmaster Osmond, Julian, and the elder Vallière sisters. The Fire Arms Squadron have been doing all they can to try and lure out the intruders somehow and get the girls to safety, but so far no luck. As of now, we turn to Louise, who escaped from her prison due to being the impatient she is, Kirche, Tabitha, and Professor Colbert who were hiding in the bushes. Thankfully, they were able to escape capture._

_"How are we going to get inside?" Louise asked._

_"Who _cares_ how? Those guys don't know of our existence here. We have the advantage!" Kirche said._

_"Hold on, Miss Zerbst, these people are all professionals!" Colbert protested. "They aren't opponents who you can deal with using just a little wand!"_

_"Teacher, you should be optimistic!" Kirche pouted at him._

_"But–" Colbert tried. _

_"Alright, we'll come up with a plan to attack. Firstly, we'll have someone to act as our decoy and barge in." Kirche continued._

_"Just barging in won't be good enough." Tabitha pointed out._

_"They must be able to fully attract the enemy's attention!" Louise added._

* * *

I soon managed to reach the Academy via Shunpo and thankfully it wasn't destroyed. I wobbled my way over to the courtyard inside still injured trying Louise and the others. I just hope I can find before I succumb to my injuries. Every time I walk, I'm in huge pain, but I had to bear with it. I came over to the Vestri Court and I noticed four figures hiding in the bushes, with their back towards me. It was… Louise, Kirche, Tabitha, and Professor Colbert. Thank goodness they're okay. I soon wobbled my way to them but when I got 3/4 of the way, my injuries stopped me. "Louise…" I managed to get out loud enough for them to hear and I soon fell down front first.

The four of them turned around and saw me with horrified looks. "Kurogasa!" Louise gasped.

"Darling!" Kirche gasped. The four of them then ran over to me with Kirche getting me immediately to lay on my back and my head rest on her lap. "What happened to you?" Kirche asked frantically.

"That bastard Arturo happened, that's what…" I managed to say.

"Arturo?" Louise asked.

"Yeah, he distracted me and led me away from here. I managed to beat him though, thanks to the Shisui Mirror. Most of his strength has been absorbed." I then suddenly cringe in pain from the injuries. "Ite te te…"

"Kurogasa, don't force yourself." Louise said worriedly.

"Don't worry about me. I'm _more_ worried about what happened _here_."

"Mercenaries sent by Reconquista most likely," Colbert answered. "Without their adoring people watching, they will go to any lengths in order to win."

"Figures…" I muttered. "What about everyone _else_ inside? Where _are_ they?" I asked.

"Held hostage by the mercenaries," Kirche replied. "I believe they plan to hold all the students here hostage and force the surrender of Tristain.

"_That_ figures too." I muttered yet again. "And most likely Osmond, Julio, Eleanor, and Cattleya are hostages too. Alright, I can provide a distraction and smoke the area while you three get the girls, Osmond, and Julio out of there. You can get your sisters out of there too Louise."

"The mercenaries are holding them all in the same spot so it shouldn't be hard to do that," Colbert agreed. "The truly difficult part would be keeping them off guard. These are professionals, not skittery revolutionaries being deluded by a skilled liar."

"Don't worry. I got that covered." I said. "But first, I need to be in tiptop shape if we're gonna pull this off." I then turned my head to Tabitha. "Know any water healing spells?"

"Few," Tabitha murmured. She raised her wand and began to chant under her breath. Water–like energy swirled around her staff before gliding through the water towards me. Swirling around my body, I felt the wounds Arturo gave me begin to disappear. It was like getting into a shower after a day of being covered in muck and grime, it all just washed away.

"Thanks." I said suddenly getting up and feeling refreshed. "Okay, let's do this."

* * *

Meanwhile in the cafeteria…

_"You, I want to ask you something." Agnès said angrily._

_"Oh? And what's that?" Benubiro asked._

_"Since you talk about loving to burn things so much, Were you… were you the Captain that burned the village of D'Angleterre?!" Agnès demanded._

_"D'Angleterre? Ah, that town. I remember. Sorry, I was only a Vice Captain at the time. The true captain was the Snake of Flame, a guy known for his blazing fire snake!"_

_"What did you say?" Agnès asked shocked._

"_I _also_ have been looking for that guy!" Benubiro said making Agnès have a surprise look on her face. "The one that caused this injury…" He continued pointing at his face with half of it covered with a mask and the other eye is white with no color to it. "The Snake of Flame! I want to _burn_ that guy! That's the only wish I have!" Agnès at that point looked a little scared at his zealous in killing Snake of Flame. "It sends _chills_ down my spine now that I remember it. The captain who burned down D'Angleterre was simply too amazing! In a blink of an eye and the whole village was in flames! It was too beautiful! I was so mesmerized by how superior the captain was; that I launched an attack on him behind his _back_! That's what they call being young and impetuous right? How superior is the captain? How genuine is that superiority of his? I was _dying_ to know! That fellow is the real thing! He dealt with me without breaking any sweat!"_

_"You bastard! You're crazy!" Agnès snapped._

_"Maybe. Discussions about the past will end here. Time to make a deal." Benubiro said as he walks over to Old Osmond. "Principal, send my words to Henrietta. Ask her to sign the treaty to disperse her Army in Albion!"_

_"What?!" Osmond asked surprised._

_"A treaty to disperse the Army without any condition."_

_"I–Impossible! I don't have the right to ask Her Majesty to do something like _that_!" Osmond protested. _

_"Don't you care that your precious students will be reduced to ashes?" Benubiro asked making the girls look at him in fear._

_"What a foolish way of doing things." Julio said._

_"Julio, stop it!" Osmond said trying to stop him from antagonizing Benubiro to attack. _

_"If this matter is made known at the battle front, they will surely launch an attack, right? You guys are really forcing yourselves into a dead end. Albion's thinking is too shallow." At that point, Benubiro moves in closer to Julio with a smile on his face. _

_"Do you really wish to die so badly?!" Benubiro asked as he raises his club to hit Julio but then…_

*CRASH*

_A hole was made from the ceiling catching the goons and Benubiro off guard and jumping down the hole was… Kurogasa! "Huh?! What the–!" Benubiro began._

* * *

_"Bakudō # 21: Sekienton!"_ The red smoke poured into the room, blinding all of the mercenaries and keeping anything from being seen properly. The soldiers began shouting and screaming, drawing their weapons and trying to find their targets. With the thick haze of crimson though, there was no seeing anything. "Now girls! Professor Colbert!" I shouted. "Get them out of here!" I then went towards the confused goons and casted Inemuri on them by one by one making them fall unconscious fast. Meanwhile, Kirche, Tabitha, and Professor Colbert untied the girls, Julio, and Osmond, while Louise untied her sisters. And with that, the elder Vallière's and Headmaster Osmond lead the rest of the girls to safety. "Julio, Agnès, catch!" I yelled as I gave threw each of them a spare sword. Luckily I found two armors used for decorations holding swords, so I took them before literally dropping in the cafeteria. True to their training, the pair caught the swords and expertly began to wield them as the mercenaries that caught sight of them began to charge to try and stop them and reclaim their hostages.

"No, you don't." Julio said as he and Agnès rushed towards the mercenaries and did battle with them, me joining them. It was taking a while too and soon Julio, Agnès, and I had our backs to each other with a group of mercenaries surrounding us.

"Think you can _handle_ this much?" I asked.

"It _would_ be trouble if one _more_ showed up." Julio panted.

"Then that'll be the one _I_ take care of." Agnès added.

"What. You're fighting too?" I scoffed jokingly. I can't believe we just reenacted the Cloud/Leon scene from Kingdom Heart 2 when they were surrounded by Heartless. Julio and Agnès smirked at this as we now charged at the circle of mercenaries. Because of the confined spaces, I couldn't use my Shunpo, but these mercenaries were apparently uninformed about me. As the more thuggish ones began charging at me, some at the back actually tried shooting magic at me thinking I was just a commoner swordsman or something. The magic attacks came at me first and I swung Derflinger to swallow them up. It did give my weapon the added magic charge to keep up the fight though. Preparing my water magic, I swung fast and hard.

"You guys need to cool down! _Mizuryu Shogekiha_!" I sent a shockwave of water and spiritual energy at the mercenaries and it went towards its target. It changed form to, true to the name of the attack, a water dragon. The water dragon soon engulfed them, soaking them wet, and knocking them out cold. Julio and Agnès respectively took out their enemies as well. When the water receded and the smoke cleared, I saw a guy with spiky white hair whose one was covered with a long strip of eye patch and his eye having no color. For some reason, he looked at Colbert in surprise. "Oh! You're…! You're… You're… You're…! The temperature which I've been searching for!" The guy laughed. "I've been looking for you! How nostalgic! Captain!" Agnès looked in surprise.

"You've lost your sight right?" Colbert asked.

"Yes, thanks to you Captain!" Benubiro said.

"What's he talking about?" I wondered.

"This is him! This is the Snake of Flame! The Captain who burned down the village of D'Angleterre!" Benubiro laughed. I could only look at him at Professor Colbert in shock. No way… Colbert was… the one who burned down Agnès's village? Benubiro seemed to think he was looking at some kind of idol, like Colbert should've been proud he was able to kill so many people at once. Colbert on the other hand looked like he was about to be sick with himself. Me, I was just in shock. The man that Agnès wanted to bring down had been right beside us the whole time?

"Why the long face Snake?" Benubiro grinned. "I'm surprised to even find you in this pit. I mean, with all the money Lishmon paid us and the promotions he gave us to keep it quiet, you should be up as a general in the army somewhere. Instead I heard you quit and ran off somewhere. I never took you for a weakling though. I mean, they were just common–!"

"SHUT UP!" Colbert bellowed out. "JUST SHUT UP YOU FILTHY INBRED DEGENERATE!"

"Wow. Hadn't heard him cuss like _that_ before," Derflinger commented. I would've agreed was I not so stunned. It sure seemed to shut the mercenary up.

"Unlike you, I know what I did was unforgivable!" Colbert growled, sparing a glance at Agnès. His eyes were filled with regret. "I was ordered to that village because I was told that it had been struck with plague and had to be destroyed before it spread any farther. After the flames were lit I overheard the rest of you talking about how we were burning out rebels. We were killing an entire village of people just to get rid of a few rebels! I dove into that village to save who I could. All I could find was a little girl. The rest of you tried to stop me before I could spread word, but you know what happened then."

"Oh, do I ever," Benubiro grinned.

"I tried to find someone who would listen to what happened, but every avenue I tried was blocked," Colbert growled. "Lishmon was so greedy for power and position he had us slaughter a village which was only _rumored_ to have rebels! I later found out he was completely wrong in the first place! THERE WERE NO REBELS! WE MURDERED FOUNDER KNOWS HOW MANY INNOCENT PEOPLE FOR ONE MAN'S GREED!" Colbert panted, but no one dared to speak. He was a man on the edge.

"I was so disgusted with myself, disgusted at what I did and why," He frowned. "After I left that little girl to people who would care for her, I tried to find some way to atone for what I did. I often contemplated killing myself. Eventually Osmond found me and offered me a place at the school. Here I could teach the students ways to advance without having to kill each other, solve problems without the use of force, and try to grow beyond the foolishness of war. And still, I learned that the men who should've been tried as criminals all 'suddenly' received small fortunes or were granted better places in the military and D'Angleterre was marked down as having suffered from a plague. Except you, Benubiro. My injury to you forced you to leave, but it seems you're still the ANIMAL you always were, you just look more like it now."

"Exactly! And now this ANIMAL will kill you and burn you out of existence!" Benubiro yelled as he held up his club charging up a very huge fireball.

"No you don't!" I yelled. "BANKAI!" Benubiro didn't get the chance to react before my armored fist going at Shunpo speed smashed into his face, dispelling his fireball. He was launched clean across the room before he smashed into the far wall and dropped to the floor. Appearing in front of him, I raised up the crystallized Derflinger, the red magic of fire coursing through it. "You seem pretty damn proud of your fire," I hissed, staring down at the lunatic in front of me. "How about I take it away from you?"

"Heheheh… fool. I should take it away from _you_!" Benubiro said as for some reason started to absorb the fire magic in Derf.

"What the–!" I said shocked.

"Hey! What _gives_?!" Derf demanded. "My fire magic's being sucked out!" I managed to get Derf away by jumping back.

"Fool! You shouldn't have done that!" Benubiro laughed as he shot the fire magic he absorbed on Colbert, making the latter scream in pain.

"Professor Colbert!" I cried out.

"Teacher!" Louise and Kirche cried out as they ran over to try and put him out. At that point, my blood began to boil.

"You bastard!" I shouted as I charged towards him and my sword and his clubs locked up.

"_YOU'RE_ the bastard! It's your _OWN_ fire magic that killed the Snake of Flame! Not me! HAHAHAHAHA!" Benubiro laughed maniacally. Okay, no more playing around. I slashed down at the maniac's head. I was going to take his head! Before I could make the swing, the sounds of a small explosion went off, forcing me to turn away from the mercenary. To my surprise, Colbert was still standing, only the edges of his robes, being singed.

"We've been in the same unit for years and we both have the same element Benubiro," He spoke. "Do you honestly believe that I wouldn't know what you're capable of as well making a few tricks of my own?"

"HAHAHAHAHA! As expected of Captain. It seems like your skills haven't rusted one bit. Right! That's the way it _should_ be!"

"How I wish I could let them rust and forget about them," Colbert lamented. "So long as people like you and Reconquista believe might makes right, I don't think I will _ever_ be free."

"And you never will!" Benubiro laughed as he charged up a _really_ huge fireball, and… fired it at me?! Thinking quickly, I had Derf block it. This thing packs a wallop! "Now I can do _this_!" He said charging up another one and now… firing it at Agnes!? Damn it! He distracted me!

"Derf!"

"This fireball's too much!" Derf cried out. "Can't… hold… on… much… longer!"

*BOOOM!*

"AAAAAHHHHHH!" I screamed flying back, hitting the wall hard.

"Kurogasa!" Louise screamed.

"Darling!" Kirche cried as they ran over to me. Meanwhile, the fireball going was coming at her fast and she didn't have time to react. Agnès closed her eyes waiting for her doom to come.

…

…

…

…It didn't happen. Why was Agnès still alive? She found her answer when she saw Colbert take the hit. He was scorched badly, the top of his robes being burned away, revealing a large burn scar on his back Agnès gasped at see the back of his neck. There was the scar on the back of his neck as she remembered the person that saved her from the village fire. She flashed back to the time she was being carried out of the fire and it was the same mark. "Captain! How does it feel to be burnt to death?" Benubiro laughed as Colbert fell to the floor. Colbert was not dead though. "I've been looking forward to this moment! The moment I burn you to death! I need to thank you, Captain." He said as he charged up another fireball from his staff. "Taking revenge on you, allowing me to reach the level of skill that I have now! I can now surpass you when you finally die!" He was about to deliver the final blow until…

"_Rikujokoro!"_ I yelled. The capturing Kidō lanced through the air and froze the mercenary where he stood, pinning him and preventing him from moving. He wouldn't even be able to cast magic while trapped there. Shinigami couldn't cast Kidō while captured by it so I doubted one psycho mercenary could cast a spell. "Agnès, now!" I yelled.

The musketeer didn't need much more motivation than that. Screaming, she lashed out with her sword and pierced the madman through the chest. The flame addict gagged, blood dribbling from his mouth. "My… revenge…?" It seemed he was incapable of understanding that he had just been denied his desire.

"Burn in hell!" Agnès screamed. "I'm sure you'll love it there!"

I dismissed the Kidō, this time for certain that the madman was dead. His body dropped to the floor like a sack of meat, blood pooling from his wound. Agnès stood over him, her hands trembling and her face hidden. Still, I was sure that she was struggling not to cry at the moment. She had just managed to get revenge on one of the people who killed her home and one who seemed to have particularly enjoyed it as well.

At that point, Louise, Kirche, and Julio helped me over to Colbert and Kirche managed to get him lying on his back as he had his head on her lap. "Agnès, thank goodness you're alright." Colbert said. Agnès looked indifferent however.

"Why? Why did you save me?" Agnès asked.

"Because I realized I had made a mistake…" Agnès was shocked. At that point, she pulls the sword up for a straight down stab.

"Whoa, whoa, whoa! What are you doing?!" I demanded.

"Don't obstruct me!" Agnès yelled.

"Agnès…" Julio muttered.

"Stop it! Agnès!" Louise cried out.

"Please! Stop it!" Kirche pleaded. With sword over her head and point down, Agnès was ready to stab Colbert on the floor.

"Get lost! This is for all of the days I have endured! Twenty years! A WHOLE TWENTY YEARS!"

"No Agnès! Don't do this!" I shouted.

"No Kurogasa…" I looked down at Colbert in shock and saw him with one eye is close and the other barely open. "Agnès… has the right… to kill me."

"No! Don't think like that Professor Colbert! You have too much to live for!" I protested.

"Maybe Kurogasa, but now the time has come for me to go." Colbert said. I could only look at him in shock. This wasn't supposed to happen. Now I suddenly started to have flashback of my parents dying in front of me again. Colbert then looked to Agnès. "I had always thought that… following orders is… the right thing to do. But… it's not! Killing people is a sin… even in a war. Agnès… kill me! But… make this the last time… and stop killing people." Colbert then closed his eyes and bowed his head.

"You! How dare you lecture me on this?" Agnès yelled as she raises her sword with anger and gritting her teeth to strike.

"Agnès!" Louise cried.

"Stop it!" Kirche pleaded, who was now crying.

"Don't obstruct me!" Agnès said as she grips harder on to the sword. Louise then looked over at Colbert and realized something.

"Agnès, lower your sword." Louise said solemnly.

"Don't joke around with me!" Agnès yelled. A tear drops from Louise eye onto her hand holding Colbert hand. Ariès sees this and is taken aback. "He has passed on…"Then at that point, she slammed down her sword, sticking it front of Colbert breaking the tile as she was shaking and fell on to her knees in front of her sword.

* * *

A couple days have passed since the attack. I was polishing the Zero Fighter while Louise is sitting to one side. At that point, Agnès walks into the hangar. "Agnès…" Louise said.

"So you are here. Kurogasa, I have to letter that's addressed to you. I found this while packing up Colbert's room." Agnès said.

"I can't read a word." I told her. And it was true. Even though I've gotten some lessons from Colbert during his free time, learning a few words here and there, I still couldn't completely read the language in this world just yet. Louise got up and moves over to Agnès holding the letter. She takes the letter, opens it up, and started to read.

"Kurogasa… I had intended to give this letter to you when you really had to go to the battlefield. Be frank with you, in the past, I had committed a mortal sin. In order to make up for that sin I had committed, I devoted myself to research. Recently, I've began to think about one matter. And I realized that no matter what I do, I can never make up for the sin I had committed. Kurogasa, I hope you can promise me, don't make people's death a habit. Don't make fighting a habit. Don't make killing a habit. Kurogasa, you've told me a lot of things, about the world you lived in. I wish to see that world." As I listened, I could only look down in sadness. "I hope that one day, you can bring me there." Louise finished. "That's the end of it." Louise then handed the letter to me.

"Thank you..." I said taking it.

"A bunch of selfish words." Agnès said before she turned around and started to walk away.

"Will you _ever_ forgive him?" Louise asked. Agnès looks back at us.

"How would _I_ know?" She asked before completely walking out of the building.

"Agnès…" Louise got out.

I stood there for a while with Colbert's letter in hand. My hand was shaking, and soon my whole body. I tried to hold back my tears, but I couldn't. "Colbert…" I sobbed as the tears flowed down my face. Another person I couldn't save…

"Don't cry." Louise said as she was facing me.

"I'm… not crying." I said turning away a little.

"You don't have to hide it." She said as she moved over to me as I saw tears were flowing from her eyes. At that point, I just broke down crying. I feel to my knees and Louise wrapped me in her arms. She whispered soothing words to me, but I was in too much despair to really hear them. All I kept seeing was Colbert dying and being unable to do anything about it. All I saw was the loss of my friend.

* * *

There we go! Another chapter down! Again, I'm really sorry about not updating this! Gomenasai! Gomenasai! Gomenasai! Go ahead and review guys! Again, Gomenasai!


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